Destiny 1: Rose of another world
by Eternal Imagination
Summary: Hopefully this is FIXED now.
1. Chapter 1

Intro.

A new place in time.

She hated Vex tech.

She hated it with a passion!

One minute she was out solo patrolling when suddenly the ground under her feet opened up and she got swallowed up by some Traveller damned portal and flung to who knows where and now she was hunkered down, low on all ammo, armour broken and cracked and utterly useless against who knew how many Vex she was now surrounded by.

"Bing, ideas?" She asked ducking down as a shot blasted past her shoulders. "Fuck!"

"Um... Don't die?" The small silver Ghost suggested through the coms, currently hiding in her helmet. "Because I have no idea where we are or where is safe to revive you again."

"Not helping!" She yelped over the gun shots.

"Sorry." Bing apologized.

She growled, realizing what was left of her hiding place would soon be destroyed, leaving her with no shelter and likely meaning she died. "I need a new hiding place!" She told her Ghost, "Now!"

"I'm looking Rose, I'm looking." her Ghost assured then gave a light 'bing' sound. "We can go up!" Bing said marking a higher ledge. "Jump for it!"

"Bing, I can't jump that high!" She yelled then yelped and hit the ground to try and avoid another shot. "Call for help! Someone has to be nearby that can help us!"

"I'm trying." Bing said trying desperately get off a distress signal as he tried to find another way out of this mess they were in. "Look out!"

"Oh shit." Rose cursed again and dived out of the shattered remains of her shelter and rolled, hoping that by whatever luck she'd had so far she could survive just that little longer... And then she saw the three large cannons aimed at her from behind the countless smaller targets she'd been shooting.

"Ok... plan R." She said and took a deep breath.

"What's plan R?" Bing asked.

"I call it, RUN AWAY!" She yelled took off running down the first corridor she saw ducking and jumping to avoid what gun shots she could. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

"Someone?! Anyone!? We need help! Please! Hurry!" Bing's signal finally got through and pinged off every frequency he could get on to as he and Rose made a mad dash for freedom... or death...

"Stop!" Bing yelled in warning suddenly, seeing something Rose had not.

"Whoa!" Rose yelled and skidded to a halt at the edge of a long dark drop off, letting Bing out knowing he could at least fly and make his way down to her if this ended badly.

"Rose!?" Bing cried trying to help by pushing his small shell against her chest.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" She yelled using her arms to try and somehow keep herself from falling off the edge and with a little help from Bing, she managed to get back from the edge only to look back and find she had nowhere to go.

"Now what?" Bing asked.

Rose opened her mouth to speak but the words came out as a yelp as a shot skimmed her shoulder and she ducked behind a wall, pulling Bing with her. She checked her weapons and found she had one rocket, one grenade, two bullets in her sniper rifle and two clips worth in her scout rifle. "Oh come on!"

He sighed as his team made their way through the many passages of the Vault of Glass, searching trying very hard not to get involved in yet another fight the two were having.

"I am telling you we need to go back and take a left." The Warlock stated, her usually calm was filled with annoyance and anger.

"And I am telling you we are going the right way and we just have to keep going." The Titan assured, "We just have to go… um…"

"We're lost." The Warlock stated.

"We are not lost!" the Titan growled and spotted the portal ahead of them, "See that's the way in."

He sighed and reminded himself why they were here, in the Vault of Glass, going around in near darkness since only his Ghost was with them, searching for some sort of Vex gate yadda-yadda, something about death and destruction yadda-yadda...

He sighed again and with a slight wince, focused on the Arc energy that was building up in his arms, feeling the Void energy in his chest tighten in a possessive way. It was a painful reminder that he was a Nightstalker but it helped him ignore the bickering back and forth between his Fireteam members as he waited for his light to build up enough to ease the pain from the Void's squeezing on his chest.

They began shouting at each other about which way to go when suddenly he heard shots over the shouts.

"You know, Vex slap rifles fix 100% of marital problems." He said with a smirk, Thorn at the ready.

"Oh shut the fuck up Vlad! Besides if we were married I'd be way less pissed!" the Warlock of his Fireteam snarled, the lights on her helmet seeming to flare in response to her anger.

"Thanks, thanks for that babe." The Titan stated and though his face was hidden under his helmet the Hunter knew he was red faced with embarrassment and moments later, the two were bickering more and more before they realized they could also hear gun fire.

"Oh shit, Slap rifle fire." The Warlock yelled.

"Gee, imagine that?" He looked to his ghost. "Any data yet, Sovereign?"

His ghost shook itself in a no fashion, continuing to try and scan for anything that was helpful. "Nothing yet Vladamir. The Vex have the firewall pretty well fortified, doing what I can." He said in a deep voice as Vladamir-66 leapt down, sparks could be heard from behind the stone block as he burst from behind it, dragging his lightning knife along the ground, sending a wave of destruction and electricity along the path, frying some of the smaller units.

The Minotaur Vex turned as they realized their shields had taken damage and began to fire void plasma at the Exo. Another two waves and his super ended.

Leaping behind another block, Vlad drew his sword, the Void Edge, he'd bathed it in the blood of a thousand enemies and rather than the normal purplish glow it once gave off from the stone at the hilt the sword now giving off a darker eerie glow. "Hey! Are you two coming down or not? Got three Minotaur Ultras down here!"

"No response, too much static from whatever it is they keep down here." Sovereign sighed. "You're going to wing it, ain't you?"

"Always do."

"Hey the big ones aren't shooting us anymore!" Bing said ducking for cover with his Guardian after noticed the larger Vex had fallen. "We got help Rose!"

"Pray they have better ammo then me!" Rose yelled and opened fire with her primary rifle, aiming for the shiny plating that seemed to be the only weak spot on these Vex, only to find her bullets did very little is any damage. "Fuck!" She screamed in frustration.

"What about your Super?" Bing asked. "Can't you use that?"

"Not enough energy yet..." She admitted and pulled the pin in her grenade and tossed it, "Fire in the hole!" she yelled in warning hoping whoever was helping her now was at least smart enough to duck.

Vlad burst from the block, cleaving the Minotaurs in two with a spinning slash of void energy, smirking as he popped his smoke grenade and switched to Thorn, popping each of the little Goblin's once, the burning damage from his bullets melting away the machines from the inside out.

His team mates landed behind him, the Warlock giving a slight huff before seeing the damage around them already done before they heard the warning call and ducked watching the smoke settle and realized a good half of the Goblin Vex were focused on someone else entirely at the end of the hallway. "Sovereign."

"Scanning." The Ghost stated his outer shell twisting slightly. "Another Guardian, a Hunter right at the back, behind the wall. And she's hurt bad."

Vlad went silent as he spotted the Hunter, a female armour broken, cracked and missing fragments that he could now see littered around the room. "Umm... she isn't supposed to be here... is she?" he heard the Titan of his team ask.

"Here goes nothing..." Rose growled and reloaded her rifle and then aimed, feeling something take over and this time her shots did more damage, taking down the Vex she hit with ease, for all of ten seconds before the super burned out and she was left exposed and slightly drained. "And I'm fucked..."

Bing spotted the fire team and almost blew a fuse. "A whole fire team, we're in luck Rose!" he said then yelped as Rose was hit hard in the chest again, breaking through the plating. "Rose?!"

"Fuck! Shit that hurt!" She hissed and staggered back behind her little wall for some protection. "Leave me alone! I'm only a little girl!" She yelled at the Vex, taking short burst of fire at them.

"Umm, that would be a no, she's WAY to low on the scale to be in here." Sovereign stated. "Heck her Ghost isn't even out of its first shell yet... How did she get here?"

"What the hell? Why is she here? Who is she? How the hell does a new recruit get this deep into the Vault of Glass?" the Warlock demanded unloading several bullets deep into the juice boxes of the Vex that were now focusing on them.

"I'm not even positive we are in the vault any more... I think this is some sort of pocket dimension the Speaker was worried about- Whao!" the Titan said then ducked under a shot. "Hey! I'm talking here!"

"Less talking more killing." Vlad said looking at the Hunter at the end of the hall, her armour was weak and her guns would barely scratch a Knight, much less Minotaurs. "Lucky it wasn't a Cabal threat," he said and looked over at Sovereign. "Go heal her, mend her Armor while you are at it, looks like it's her Ghost's first time in this kind of situation."

His ghost nodded and went to Bing and Rose. "Let's take a look, shall we?" he said kindly.

Bing turned a complete circle as if to show he was unharmed, "I'm fine, Rose is the one to worry about." He said, "And I don't suppose you could tell us where the heck we are? Last I checked Venus's Patrols didn't bring you to a dark deep pit full of Vex." He asked as the new Ghost covered Rose in a soft blueish light, healing the injuries and mending the broken armour.

"They don't Bing..." Rose winced, "Fuck... this hurts... a lot..." She hissed trying to stop the pain to her chest. "I really wish I had better armour..." she said right before a very loud and very ominous sound suddenly echoed around the darkness. "That... Does not sound good." She said daring to peek out from her hiding place.

"Vlad! Did you jinx us again?!" Sovereign yelled back as some kind of portal several more Minotaurs stepped out and instantly opened fire. "You did! You damn fool!"

Vlad yelped this time and hid behind the wall. "Damnit!"

The Titan with them smirked and began to start glowing and burning the air around him. "Welp, now everything dies." He burst into flames and dove out of the cover, flinging his hammer over and over, the blazing Sol returning over and over again. Each explosion bigger than the last.

Bing very quickly ducked behind cover from the flaming Titan's attacks. "Wow... he's good." he said watching the Sol Hammer hit over and over again, until there was very little left to kill, safe the small Vex dotted about.

"Thank you." Rose managed to say as Sovereign finished healing and fixing her armour and she was able to stand up again.

"So... umm... how do we get out of here?" Bing asked.

Vlad looked around before spotting something in the back of the room. "Well, There's a Vex gate over there, it could lead home, or at least, back to the vault and then home."

Sovereign looked up as he finished. "Or it could lead to a different galaxy or even a different TIME." He stated, "You know what the Vex portals are like."

"I think that one is safe... We fell in here from way up in the air, higher than the ground that's for sure... The fall was rather... Disorientating." Bing admitted.

"'Disorientating' he says," Rose half chuckled, "We landed upside down and back to front." she reminded, "And then everything started shooting at us."

"Hey, I couldn't help that, the floor just swallowed us..." Bing said. "And... well, then we ended up in here... that was... rather... well..." he started pausing as he tried to find words.

"So... what now?" Rose asked, "We climb out and go the way you guys came in or just stand here and wait for more Vex?"

The Titan looked like he was about to talk only to be cut off by the Warlock. "You both killed everything! Why do you even bring me along if you two can solo these runs with blindfolds on!?"

"Hey it's not my fault! They were shooting at us and we had no shields." He said.

"Oh fuck you, Orion! You would have a shield if you had Wrex." She snarled.

"Arielle, I don't need that floating junk box." The Titan, Orion stated. "He's too slow for this kind of mission."

"He wouldn't be if you got him virus checked and got him a new shell." The Warlock snapped.

Sovereign sighed. "And the arguments begin anew."

Vlad shook his head and ignored the rant, letting the two lovers bicker as he looked around. "Well, the way we came is a long, long climb. We might die that way, going through the gate could be the best solution. And worst case we just turn around and go back to the vault the way we came."

"What's the vault?" Rose asked. "And... where are we?" she added, "I mean I guess we are on Venus still but... Where?"

"I'm not sure I've ever heard of a Vault or this kind of place." Bing admitted with a confused beep as he scanned the area.

Rose looked at the two arguing guardians. "Are they always like that?" She asked.

Vlad chuckled and nodded. "Every damn day. Name's Vladimir-66 by the way," he introduced, "The Ghosts with the sarcastic humour is Sovereign." He added then turned to his team mates. "Hey! Knock it off and make yourselves useful, you're making a bad example for the recruit here!"

"Oh Sorry." Orion said. "Name's Orion," he introduced.

"Arielle." The Warlock added, "And who are you?"

"Rose, this is Bing." The hunter said nodding to her Ghost as he scanned everything again.

"How long have you been a Guardian Rose? Your light is so dull I can barely see it." Arielle said.

"Um, six weeks I think." Rose said looking at Bing. "How long?"

"Six weeks, two days, nine hours and ten minutes." Bing affirmed. "Where are we?" he asked again.

The three looked over Rose, she was in a mismatch of armour, some parts too big or just that bit too small and her cloak looked like it had been through the worst treatment before being handed to her, it was more a scarf then a cloak.

"Well, that's a hell of a run," Vlad said, breaking the silence before it got awkward, "six weeks in and you find something the Speaker himself was worried about. Not bad. Even if it was an accident the fact that you stayed alive is amazing."

Sovereign looked over at the smaller Ghost. "The Vault of Glass. It's some sort of Vex temple, very dangerous."

"Is anything the Vex have not dangerous?" Rose asked. "I mean come on, they jump around the time line like a bunch of nut jobs from a TV show, messing with who knows what. And they broke my rifle." She sighed, looking at the dents in her weapon. "Master Rahool is going to go through the roof when he sees this."

Bing gave a sad sounding whistle. "Maybe you can get a new one from Petra?"

"After this I may not have a chance to ask." Rose sighed. "Cayde's gonna throw a fit with me for getting lost. Again." She added.

Vlad chuckled. "I highly doubt that, he's not one to shy away from oddities and complications like the commander." He stated, hoping to lighten the mood.

Rose went stiff and then shook her head. "On second thought I think we'll just stay where with the murderous robots. Zavala's already in a bad mood with us for leaving as it is."

"He is the Commander, As soon as J-Cey and Ace turn up without us he'll want answers." Bing said though he too was shaking a little, "He might not see us if we hide behind Ikora when we come back though.."

The fire team shared an odd look, "Are we talking about the same Zavala?" Orion asked.

"Commander Zavala, stands at the head of the table, gives orders, glares at everyone and has a nasty temper?" Rose asked then sighed. "I guess we have to go back anyway… by now the others have moved on without me. Can you find the ship?" she added looking at Bing.

"Um... no." Bing said and then hid behind a rock.

"You lost the ship?! After all that damn work I did to get it you've lost it?" She asked in shock. Can today get any worse? lost my ship, got eaten by the planet, shot at by Vex and now I have to go back to the Tower and get yelled at by everyone for it."

"It's still there I just can't get it to follow orders..." Bing said. "I don't think we are in range of anyone we know anymore." he added scanning his frequencies. "I can't find anyone on our comm frequency..."

"So... Wait that Vex portal that swallow us just spat us out into a different place?" Rose asked.

"I'm not sure. But it seems that way." Bing said.

Sovereign chuckled and nodded. "Yep, you've never been to the Vex ruins have you, Bing was it?"

The smaller Ghost nodded. "So far, we've been to Earth and the Moon, this is our first trip to Venus not taking orders from someone and without that strange Exo lady who called me a Little Light."

Rose chuckled. "You just didn't like the way she pushed you to one side, Little Light." She said.

"Stop calling me that and she was rude." Bing said.

"You like her." Rose smiled. "And really she didn't hurt you." She added.

"She was still rude." Bing said with a slight humph, making Rose chuckle and gently push him in a circle with her finger tip. "Hey!"

"Hush up and keep trying to get the ship to listen to you and don't dent it. Holiday is scary when she's pissed." Rose smiled and Bing bounced in a nod and vanished into her helm.

Vlad smirked and pointed to the gate they had been looking at "This one leads out."

"How do you figure?" Asked Orion.

"Why else would you have so many troops so near a door? This was some sort of staging area... all of those Vex were top of the line."

"So… are we leaving?" Rose asked.

"Sure and once we get out, you can ride with me back to the Tower, my ship is bigger. Once we get there, maybe we can figure out what to do." Arielle smiled, "Besides it will give Vakarian a chance to try and help your Ghost find your ship."

"Thanks." Rose smiled.

"Come on then." Vlad said and after Sovereign had taken a quick scan of the Vex they had killed for later use if needed, the four left the dark pit like room.

"Odd." The blue and tan Ghost said after a long silent pause.

"What's odd, Vakarian?" Arielle asked quietly, Rose having fallen asleep in the co-pilot seat of her ship, Bing quietly bobbing up and down over her chest lightly in a mimic of sleeping.

"According to my readings the ship Bing gave me the codes for is already at the Tower… Though I don't think he'd like me to tell him it's gotten some damage." Vakarian stated, a hint of excited mirth in his tone, "And by my calibrations, Wrex is well overdue for a good virus scan and a new shell the one he has now is outdated."

"I know, but we both know Orion won't do it, he hates that Wrex messed up once."

"Well, it wasn't really his fault." Vakarian said. "Orion has stuffed the poor fellow with all his data reports and then forgotten to remove them to make space for better storage programs and new fire walls." He added.

"And that is why we," she pointed at the Ghost and herself, "take care of Wrex and Orion sulks in his ship." Arielle smiled.

"You still mad at him?" Vakarian asked.

"He cost me a bounty." Arielle reminded. "Not to mention he thinks I can't take care of myself sometimes. Men."

"True, but you haven't spoken to him, let alone seen him in over a month until today. Forgive me if I'm wrong but by my count, that means you have less chance of getting that ring you want." He said then ducked as Arielle half-heartedly slapped his outer shell and made him spin slightly.

"Shut. Up." She stated. Her yellow eyes softened, "Besides, I've about given up on that. It's not all that important right now."

Vakarian's shell rotated a few times, "Sorry, bad joke."

Arielle nodded silently at him and the Ghost understood that he was forgiven.

"Wake up time." Bing stated as a small pinging sound came from his shell. "I feel lighter." He said giving his shell a slight spin in a sort of stretch. "Rose?" he asked then ducked as Rose attempted to shoo him off in her sleep. "Hey," he complained lightly as he was sent into a small spin.

"Five more minutes." Rose muttered only half aware that she'd made her Ghost slightly dizzy.

"She's really tired." Arielle noted, concern clear in her eyes and soft tone, "When was the last time she slept?" she asked.

"Rose doesn't usually sleep very long. At least she hasn't since I found her." Bing admitted. "She's… Well, she's not use to the whole being alive again just yet."

"What do you mean?" Arielle asked.

"When I found her she was a little unsteady, that is to say it took me an hour to get her back on her feet and moving. We got to the tower and after talking to Cayde-6, going back to fight the Fallen and then going to Holiday to fix up her ship and then talk to the Speaker, we just never seemed to have the time to rest and we haven't had the nicest time on the Tower either, other Guardians aren't so kind to us since we are a minority there."

"As Hunters?" Vakarian asked.

"Yes. Cayde says it's because most of the Hunters are already out in the wilds doing what Hunters do, there are only a handful on the Tower still trying to get their light up to more stable level before they leave for good…" Bing explained. "The Commander is always trying to get Hunters to do patrols his Titans won't do while Cayde's not looking, and his Ghost isn't very nice to me."

"What about Ikora?" Arielle asked, clearly interested in what the new Ghost thought of her boss and mentor.

"Oh she's always nice to us." Bing seemed to beam with joy at the mention of the Warlock Vanguard. "She always says please, never demands we do anything and she never tells us we have to go somewhere to do this or that, she always asks if we can spare the time to go and try find something for her or the Warlocks." He added, happily bobbing up and down. "And her Ghost is always nice, she taught me how to scan whole buildings without being inside them, but it takes time so we don't do that much."

"You keeping going up and down like that and someone will think you are a target." Rose smiled as she woke, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she yawned, even though she still had her helmet on.

"Will not." Bing stated. "Will I?" he asked Vakarian.

"You two get along like siblings." Arielle chuckled, "So, how'd you sleep?"

"Ok I guess. Still not use to the whole revived from the dead thing. Sometimes I scare myself when I wake up because I'm not where I remember I should be." Rose admitted. "Did it take you long to get over it?" She asked.

The Awoken Warlock paused for a moment before replying, "In a way it did. Vakarian woke me on the Moon-trust me you don't know fear until you've woken surrounded by Thrall prepared to devour you. I'm pretty sure before he found me, they were chewing on my toes." She shuddered, "After that it was shoot everything and run as fast as you can. I didn't get a moment to rest until Vakarian got me to the ship and I was flying through space."

"Lucky he found you." Bing said shaking his shell.

Arielle shrugged, "Turns out that by the point of my arrival on the Tower, there were so few of us, no Guardian really got a chance to relax and adjust. The adrenaline helped, having something to focus on helped. I didn't get my first real chance to rest until after we'd beaten the Vex in the Black Garden. After that I went to the Reef and-" Arielle stopped and then shook her head, "Well, after some time, a lot of time of the Reef, I left to return to the Tower and found out that the Hive were trying to poison the Traveler."

"How were they doing that?" Rose asked.

"We don't know how they got it, but their Wizards had a way to poison that sliver of the Traveler. They were weakening him through their ceremony." Vakarian explained.

Arielle nodded, glad Rose hadn't asked about the Reef. "They were killing the Traveler slowly, but Vlad, Orion and I went in there and stopped it. Another fireteam made sure to get the sliver out safely and the Traveler has been healing ever since." She offered Rose a half-smile, "that was our first mission together as a fire team, we've been working together ever since. Vex, Hive, Fallen, and Cabal, you name it and we've killed it." She grinned, "I make us sound like some kind of pest removal service." Her smile faltered, "Eris says something else is coming, everyone's been on edge. Even carefree Cayde seems on edge."

"How can you tell?" Bing asked curiously.

"He's been pranking Eris less." Vakarian remarked. "And Zavala snaps at everyone more. He needs to go shoot something. That always makes Ari feel better." The blue and tan Ghost whispered that last part to Bing but Rose still caught it.

The Warlock sighed, "When the Speaker sent us to investigate the Vault of Glass again, I thought the fear had gotten to him, but then we found you and now I'm not so sure."

"I doubt the Vex meant to drag me around their portals… And they were rather determined to kill me when they saw me 'drop in'." Rose said.

"I hate to tell you this, Rose, but the Vex try to kill everyone." Vakarian remarked dryly.

"Rose look! Look!" Bing suddenly cried in a mix of shock and awe. "The Traveler and the Tower they're fixed! and the City too! Look Rose!"

"What do you mean fixed? they were never broken..." Arielle said as she and Vakarian shared curious look.

"Never? you mean the Devil's didn't break through the walls ten years ago?" Rose asked. "The City's still safe? the Queen is still safe? The Reef is still there?"

"I think," Arielle said, "We better save this talk for when we are with the Vanguard."

"Why?" Bing asked.

"Because if what you say is true, then your fall through a Vex portal didn't bring you to a different place." Vakarian said, "It brought you to a new time entirely."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter one.

Different yet the same.

Arielle, Orion and Vlad landed on the tower with ease almost like they were expected, and instantly, it seemed their comms were ringing with the requests that they make a swift stop by the Vanguard and report what they had found.

"It's so bright here." Rose said, taking a moment to get used to the brightness of the tower.

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked curiously.

"I mean it's bright, more…. Vibrant than where I'm from." She said trying to explain it better, "And it feels nicer here... Less hostile."

"And they have so many shiny lights…" Bing said while flitting from one place to other looking at every light he could find. "Can I change my optic colour? Please? I want a green one like your eyes Rose."

"We'll talk about upgrades when we have more Glimmer." Rose stated.

"Yay!" Bing cheered and even zoomed around her head excitedly until his systems pinged. "Oh! Our ship!" He said then gave an alarmed beeping sound that made a few heads turn. "Oh no…"

"What?" Rose asked and nearly fell over her own two feet as a familiar ship, hung suspended in the docks, covered in dents, jagged tears and what looked like bullet holes. "My baby…"

"This is your ship?" Arielle asked looking over the Space Age Mariner, usually a beautiful white colour with a gentle glow of light from the wings, but this one was practically black with dust and dirt and the wings were dented and broken in so many places Arielle was sure it shouldn't be flying at all; or should've been to begin with. "Sweetie that thing's scrap. Not only does it need a paint job, but it needs a whole new body. I don't even want to know how bad the mechanics are." She turned to Rose, "When was the last time you had it repaired?"

"Before we left for training on Venus." Rose said. "I paid extra just to get the shields up to snuff. She's the only ship I have…" she sighed. "Holiday's gonna kill me..."

"What did this?" Vlad asked taking a look at the ship and trying to find something in his memory that could have done such massive damage. "Looks like something huge…"

"Looks like Hive Knight damage… Or maybe Cabal…" Orion stated also inspecting the damage. "Or something entirely different," he added pausing and looking at one of the rips, "Hey babe give me a hand with this will ya?"

"What is it?" Arielle asked climbing up onto the ship and spotted a large chunk of what looks like a claw stuck in the ship. "Vlad. Tell Cayde he owes me twenty-five thousand glimmer."

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked as he jumped up and only to almost fall over. "Oh fuck… You might want to tell him yourself."

"Rose, do you know what this is?" Arielle asked as they wiggled and pried free a large claw from the sparking tear on her ship.

"Taishibeth… Tai Ravens." Rose shuddered at the sight of it and nodded. "Where I'm from they are common, but they are small according to the Commander, they used to grow so large they could cut moons in half with one talon, the ones we have are about the size of a Fallen drop ship." She said with a defeated air about her.

The three looked at each other and silently agreed to keep it quiet for now. "Arielle, why don't you take Rose on ahead? We'll try and talk Holiday into fixing this ship up and then join you."

"Got it," Arielle said and lead Rose out of the docks.

"I hate those things." Bing said, "They were known for snatching Ghosts out of the air and crushing us in one claw…"

"There are none of them here." Arielle assured, "They are kept at bay by the Awoken, they live in the Reef and are led by Queen Mara Sov."

"The Awoken are still in the Reef?" Rose asked in shock and relief. "This really is a different time, or place, or whatever this is." Arielle wanted to ask about the Awoken but instead they were interrupted by Bing's excited remark.

"Ooooh, look Rose, look!" Bing said floating ahead and looking at The Traveler above the city. "Wow…"

Rose looked up and her eyes widened. Over the city hovered the Traveler, a nearly perfect ball of warmly glowing white light, a few small spots of black near the base but clearly it was healing and doing far better than her own, the City below was also bigger, the walls were hardly visible beyond the mountains and everything radiated life. "It's almost whole…" She whispered.

"I guess our Traveler looks a lot better than yours does. What does your Tower look like?" Arielle inquired curiously.

"Not like this," Rose said, "There's life here, the city is still surrounded by walls, the air isn't heavy with death, I can feel, actually feel the Light here, the sky is clear, you can't feel anything but heavy air where I come from, you can't see the sky for smoke and flames. You can't stand here, there is nothing to stand on, this whole place is just one big mess of rubble and small fires to keep us warm. This whole place is different…"

"My god." Arielle said, realizing just how different Rose's Tower must have been compared to this one. "Come on, the Vanguard are waiting for our report and they'll want to meet you."

"But, it's late." Bing remarked. "Won't they be in a meeting with the other big bosses?" he added.

"Nah, they never call big meetings unless they have data to say they need to do so." Arielle smiled, waving to Master Rahool as they passed him.

Rose seemed surprised that the cryptarch nodded in return. "First time he's done that." She said as they headed down the stairs.

"Rahool and I get along pretty well. He likes that I can hold a conversation about the old items and I don't mind how he falls quiet when he starts thinking about where items came from. Vlad and Orion like to give him shit."

"Welcome home Arielle." A voice stated and Bing turned to see an almost familiar face looking at them. "A new Guardian?"

"Yes Eris." Arielle said with a polite nod. "This is Rose and her Ghost Bing."

"Welcome." Eris said with a polite nod in return.

"Hello." Rose greeted as Bing looked at the small ball in Eris' hands. "Manners, Bing." She reminded softly.

"Sorry. Hello Eris and Soul." Bing greeted with a small bounce in the air, Eris seemed to smile somewhat and then nodded as they headed towards the hall.

"Heads up!"

"Look out!" a voice warned and Bing suddenly found himself covered by some kind of heavy cloth.

"Not again. Idiots." Arielle sighed as Rose tried not to laugh, Orion had somehow caught himself in the wire and cables that held the Crucible Banners up and now, was tangled up in banner and cables, unable to move as Vlad struggled to keep himself upright from laughing so much at the foot of the stairs near Eris.

"Orion! What have I told you about racing around like a fool?!" a powerful voice bellowed and Bing heard a heavy foot step near him.

"It wasn't my fault! Vlad ran into me!" Orion stated in his defence only to have something hit his helmet. "OW!"

"Did not, you over jumped." Vlad laughed. "Oh, quick! Someone get pictures!"

"Hey! Where'd the light go?" Bing asked trying to float back up only for the heavy cloth to hold him down. "Help…"

"Sorry little one." The same voice apologized as the Banner was carefully lifted off him and he was lifted up off the floor and found himself looking at a very broadly built Titan with a single horn on his helmet, the other apparently cut or broken off. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so, nothing broken on me…" he said. "I didn't rip the banner, did I?" He asked.

"No, it's not damaged, luckily for Orion." The man stated then very lightly tossed the Ghost up into the air and Bing gave a little twist and spin to make sure he was alright before giving a polite bop like nod and floated to hover over Rose's head.

"Safe here." He said and then planted himself on her hooded helmet.

"When you three are finished causing Lord Shaxx trouble, we are still waiting for that report," A stern voice called and Bing suddenly felt very scared and even smaller than he really was, instinctively hiding behind Rose's head.

"It's ok," Arielle smiled, though there was concern in her voice. "Come on."

Zavala started to speak when the four of them entered the hall, only to stop as Ikora held up a hand and Cayde gave a subtle but still surprised sound.

This new Hunter wasn't someone he knew.

"What's going on, Arielle?" the Warlock Vanguard asked politely, but her intense gaze was focused on Rose, who seemed more than a little nervous and almost afraid.

"We may need some privacy." Arielle said and nodded to the door way. "As in locking that and calling in Shaxx, Saladin and Eris."

"Very well." Ikora said. "What level of security?" she asked.

"Maximum." Vlad and Orion stated together as Sovereign dropped the claw on the table.

In the next instant, the Vanguard Hall was emptied of all but the Vanguard, their Ghosts, Vlad, Arielle, Orion, Rose and seemingly from nowhere, Lord Shaxx, Eris and another Titan appeared as the doors slide shut and locked.

Bing gave a startled blip and fizzled out of sight and into Rose's armour. "A-are we in t-trouble…?" 

"No." Vakarian said appearing beside where Bing had disappeared into the Hunters armour. "They just like to scare Ghosts with loud noises." He added with a small chuckle, hoping to put the smaller Ghost at ease and coax him back out.

"Rose?" Bing asked.

"Come out," Rose said, "It's not like the Tower we know here." She added and slowly Bing fizzled back into the open, though he stayed behind Rose's shoulder.

Vakarian turned to Vlad and the Exo Hunter nodded, Sovereign flickering into life again and floated by Bing.

"We'll look after you Bing." The other Ghost said.

"Ghost Gathering?" Cayde-6's Ghost asked, he was a standard shelled light but with a bright yellow eye.

"It will help." Vakarian nodded and another Ghost, Rose guessed was Wrex floated from Arielle's armour, soon followed by the Vanguard's own Ghosts and two others from the Titan Lords.

"Alright, while the Ghosts talk this out," Zavala began looking pointedly at Orion. "What's happening?"

"Um, well, yea I don't think we really have an answer for that yet." Orion admitted, taking his helmet off and running a hand through his hair, the classical bluish skin of an Awoken catching Rose's eye as he did that, his hair was rather long for a male, but it suited him. "We went, we looked, found a pit full of top notch Vex and in said pit we found these two, very much outmatched and on the brink of becoming dead once again." he explained nodding to Rose and Bing, "So we help and we find out that she is not from here. As in not from our dimension. At all." He said with a rather lost looking shrug, "So, yea that's the report. Sir."

"Impossible." Zavala said. "No one can cross dimensions and time but the Vex."

"They said once you couldn't come back from the dead. And hey, look around, we all died at some point." Vlad stated flatly while nodding to the Ghosts, his helmet under his arm showing off his black plated face with a red plating over his nose plating and part of his forehelm and his audios, bright red optics focused on the Titan Vanguard. "They are proof that the impossible is possible and they said it was impossible for someone to survive losing their Ghost, yet I see someone who is living and breathing without him. No offense." He quickly added lowering his head to Eris as she stood in the dark corner, one hand fondly rubbing the green orb she always carried.

"None taken." Eris assured, though she did hold the orb just that little tighter.

"He has a point, Zavala." Cayde-6 stated before anyone else could speak. "Shaxx, you've seen these things before, is this real?" he asked showing Shaxx the broken end of the claw. "Or just a very good copy? No offense to you friend but this isn't something we see every day here." He said to Rose.

"We see them every hour." Rose admitted with a shudder.

Shaxx looked carefully at the claw, studying it with careful eyes and checking the weight of the claw in his hands, then looked up. "Atriums."

His Ghost floated back to them and carefully scanned the claw slowly, twisting and turning before reforming and nodded. "It's real." She said with a slightly melodic voice before floating up to the gathering of Ghosts again.

"That settles it then." Cayde said in a rather proud fashion.

"No crafts master could make this to such perfect detail, there are root and blood channels some still filled with blood, there is even some skin still attached." Shaxx added handing the claw to Ikora for her own inspection. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"It was stuck in Rose's ship and if what she says is true her time is worse off then ours by a far ways." Arielle said removing her helmet, to show much richer dark blue skin, with a subtle light purple mark on her forehead that matched the lipstick she wore. She had a head of darker blue hair that almost looked black as it neatly fell over her shoulders and she looked at Rose, bright yellow eyes softening again and making her frighteningly stern face much softer. "Tell them."

"It's nothing like this place, the whole base of the Walls are skeletal and infested with Devils, base of the Tower is desolate and sealed off from the ground up, the balconies and both side wings are in ruins, and Cayde keeps telling us that one strong gust of wind and we'll be falling down like a house of cards. The Traveler is covered in huge gashes, held in place by the Fallen Ships, they are the only think keeping it from falling." Rose explained, "It has little if any Light left in it." She added.

"What about the City?" Zavala asked in clear shock at what he was hearing. "If you are here, surely the City?"

Rose shook her head gravely, "No one stays in the City anymore. According to the few who will talk about it, everyone in the City took off in the largest of our ships by order of the Speaker and Vanguard ten years ago during the Fall and they are now hiding in deep space, protected by the finest of the Sunbreakers and the Stormcallers."

"Are there no ships close to earth?" Lord Saladin asked.

"The closest ship is the Serenity, protected by Lord Shaxx and Lord Saladin while the engines are repaired, no one knows how the damage happened but if it stays too much longer then the ship will be targeted by the Hive and Fallen, not even the two Titan Lords can stand that kind of firepower alone. Cayde-6, well the one I know, tries to get the Hunters as far away from the Tower as he can when we have enough light to survive alone because he knows we're losing the battle to save the Tower and Traveler; it's not easy to admit, but the truth is, as he says, a bitter pill to swallow." She explained, "But these days, there are so many reports coming in from other Hunters, detailed to the brim with how bad it really is outside the Tower, he's been distracted with trying to set up a defence line with Ikora that he hasn't always able to help those of us stuck there and the Commander uses that to send us everywhere but where Cayde needs us to go and by the time we get back, the places he wants us to go are lost. Only Nightstalkers can enter those lost zones."

"But why are there so few of you on the Tower?" Ikora asked.

"Because we were waiting for a signal from Venus so we could go and train there with the Blacksnake Hunters, we're the last of our kind on Earth and Cayde keeps saying if we don't leave and gain more light somehow, there's no way we will become Nightstalkers."

"But then, why were you in the Vault of Glass?" Ikora asked. "You aren't at a high enough level of light to get in there… How did you even get in?"

"I didn't even know where I was." Rose admitted, "Cayde sent me and two others to Venus to meet up with an older Fireteam, the Blacksnakes and from there we were going to take training from them to gain more light and prepare for life away from the Tower. Venus is the only place left where we can go and focus on training since the Titans and Warlocks don't go there, apparently it's 'too dangerous' and 'a lost cause'. I was on solo patrol since I dropped for the solo run today... Then the floor gave out under my feet and down I went, next thing I knew, Vex shooting at me from all sides and my bullets do nothing but bounce off them even when I hit their juice boxes."

"Um… can I speak?" Bing asked, and Rose looked back seeing Bing hovering closer to her shoulder. "It might be helpful."

"What do you wanna say, little guy?" Cayde asked kindly.

"I got the whole time Rose was training on recorded file," Bing explained. "Cayde's had all of the younger Hunter's Ghosts recording full time since he wanted to see if we needed further training before he sent us off to the wilds and so he had proof the Commander was always mean to us."

"Show us," Ikora ordered politely, "It may help us understand what has happened and help us work out what is going on." She added.

"Ok… ummm, Rose I need your helmet…" Bing said floating around to her front. "Please."

Rose nodded and after fiddling with the fastenings she pulled her helmet off, letting a head of black hair fall free and show a flash of bright green eyes, a light pink mark on her forehead, the only mark on her darkish blue skin. "Snap my picture and I'll buy you a pink shell with yellow flowers on it." She warned as Bing gave a happy beep.

"I wasn't taking pictures." He said.

"Good."

 _~ "Close your mouth." ~_ A text suddenly made Vlad shake his head and look away while Cayde half smirked.

"Ok, let me see…" Bing said as he floated under and into her helmet and began to make some strange bleeping and pinging sounds. "Sorry it's fuzzy in some places, I'm not a very good camera." Bing said and gave a little bleep and ping sound before a fuzzy image hit the door and slowly, shapes and coloured fizzed into frame to show a picture much like an old roll of film.

 _~ "So, this is Venus?" someone asked as a second Hunter, an Exo with yellow and black armour walked slightly ahead. "Looks barren."_

 _"Everywhere looks barren, J-Cey." Rose said and Bing turned to look at her on the screen. "Which way Bing?" She asked checking her weapons._

 _"Cayde's coordinates say we go north by east and then when we reach the Shattered Coast we search the Academy. We should find the Blacksnake fire team there and get their report, from there they lead us." Bing answered._

 _"Lovely," A second new voice said as a female human playfully jabbed Rose's shoulder from behind. "You get to see your heroes Rose."_

 _"They aren't my heroes, Ace. They just got me out of a patrol with that love struck fool Titan Khan." Rose said returning the playful punch with a light bonk on the helm._

 _"Heroes." J-Cey chuckled. "Come on then." ~_

 _They walked for a short time, using cover and ranged weapons to take in their path ahead, clearly aware that they were not alone. After meeting up with an older trio of Hunters, all dressed in black armour with the image of a snake on their cloaks, the images flicked and fluttered a little, showing times when Rose and Bing were out alone, sniping Fallen Captains and Barons along with Vex Goblins and Minotaurs. A slow process as Rose took the time to wait for the perfect time to squeeze her trigger and then make a quick move to hide from the returning fire and angry retaliation._

"I spent more time running and hiding for hours on end," Rose sighed and her statement was proven by the many times the images flickered and the time stamp changed. "Ace and J-Cey had more Light than me so they were on the fronts with the Nightstalkers while I was defence, Gunslinger's like me don't gain light as quickly as others."

"And you say this is normal for your time?" Ikora asked in horrified shock as she watched Rose huddle down in a tight hole as Fallen marched against Vex all around her. Tai Ravens circled over battlefields, revealing time and again how Hunters, desperately trying to fight back the Darkness in the best way they knew, fell and were snatched up by Tai Ravens before their friends could save them. "This is… how you lived?"

The Venus on the film looked worse than anything the Vanguard had seen, the city in far worse a state then they knew and the Vex towers and architecture far more dominant, even though it was decorated with Fallen House banners of Wolves and some ominous looking nests.

"As the Ikora I know says, life is at its darkest time." Rose nodded, and looked at the images, "When Cayde knows we need help in our training but he can't give us the time we need, he sends us to older and more experienced Hunters for that training. We are meant to get clearance from the Commander or at least one of his Titans when Cayde is busy, but we don't really like going down to see him, the Commander I know would never stand to see a Hunter in his office, much less allow one like me to stand in a room full of higher ranked Guardians."

"How does he take reports?" Cayde asked.

"According to Ikora, by force. She's seen him snatch Ghosts out of the air that aren't his own, download everything they have and then throw them out." Rose explained, "Ikora and Cayde tend to be the ones who give him reports at any time, since he isn't so welcoming of Guardians who aren't his own."

"I would never-!" Zavala stated.

"Hush, look." Cayde said suddenly.

 _~Rose suddenly froze and darted behind cover with Bing right behind her as no less than seven large shadows flew overhead and a very much living Tai Raven let out a powerful screech._

 _"Fuck… Bing ideas?" She asked quietly while making herself as small and as hidden as she could be._

 _"Could you use your Sparrow?" he offered. "If we are quick we could get to the shelter of the trees."_

 _"What's the path look like?" she asked and Bing looked out carefully._

 _"Lots of sharp corners… maybe not so good for Sparrows… maybe a Rocket?" he said, "It might scare them off."_

 _"I can try it." She nodded taking aim with her rocket launcher only to see fire coming from other places and focused on another area in time to see Fallen charging the Ravens. "Shit. Fallen too I fire on either of them and I'm dead." Rose said._

 _"What do we do?" Bing asked._

 _There was a long slow silence and Bing watched as Rose used the scope from her sniper rifle to search the area carefully, lightly cupping her hand around him and pulling him into her armour where he was safe as the images fuzzed again this time showing from inside Rose's Helmet. "Hold on."~_

"Good plan." Cayde said, seeing what Rose was going to do.

 _~Rose bolted from her cover, running behind the limited cover she'd seen, ducking and diving over the shots that were suddenly aimed at her and managing with a slight twist at the hips to toss a grenade into the mists of the fighting._

 _The resulting explosion gave her the time she needed to scramble over the largest obstacle in her way, a partly broke wall before something hit the back of her right shoulder and she fell badly down the other side of the wall and hit the ground hard, a sickening snap followed by a strangled scream before the image fizzed back to Bing and Rose was seen, slumped in a heap at the foot of the broken wall, her right leg twisted at the wrong angle under her and her shin bone and part of her knee bone exposed._

 _"Fuck! Shit… Shit…" She cursed. ~_

"I'd forgotten about that…" Rose admitted, though Vlad noticed she suddenly favoured her left leg.

"Can you show us the event leading to your being found?" Zavala asked.

"One moment please… I'm not so good at this…" Bing said and the images began to move swiftly by, as if he was fast forwarding them. "And… here." He said as the images fluttered and flickered and the focused again.

 _~ "Solo Patrol near the Ishtar Cliffs." Rose sighed. "Why is it always me…?" Rose whined looking over her share of patrols for the day, Bing hovered overhead and making a copy of the list himself._

 _"Because Cayde knows you are a damn good climber and you work well under pressure." Ace said and playfully poked Rose's nose. "And you look good doing it too."_

 _"I scream and run." Rose said, waving Ace's hand off. "A lot."_

 _"Well, you are just a baby." Ace chuckled and ruffled her hair. "And really, I've heard tell of Warlocks running away when they have too so there is no shame in it," She added, looking over a few reports of her own, "And according to this, even if you do run a lot, you'd make one heck of a fire team member Rose. I can see why Ikora keeps asking Cayde if she can put you with some of her Warlocks in the defence lines."_

 _"I have no idea what you are talking about," Rose said and Bing moved to show a burner filled with paper keeping them warm and a few make shift bunks with neatly folded sheets for bed close by. "And as much as I admire the work they do, the warlocks always use such long words and I get lost so many times when they try to explain stuff, heck I still get headaches just thinking about the number of scrolls they have."_

 _"Whatever you say Rose, but remember if anyone asks, you were with me and J-Cey first." Ace smiled and hugged Rose from the left. "So you are our team mate."_

 _"Hey no fair, Ace." J-Cey called in mock hurt and Rose was hugged from behind. "Hugs are for sharing." He added and Bing floated higher._

 _"Get off me!" Rose snarled suddenly and shoved them both away from her with enough force to make them fall over._

 _"Hey, Easy Rose… We don't mean no harm." J-Cey said quickly bringing his hands up in defence. "It was only harmless contact."_

 _"Well don't." Rose said. "I don't like it."_

 _"Rose, hey wait a minute, Rose!" Ace tried to say but Rose was already heading out the door, Bing close behind._

 _"Are you alright?" he asked and hovered in front of her after they got a few yards from the camp._

 _"I'm fine, Bing it's just… I don't like being enclosed like that…" She said, shuddering a little._

 _"Because of the memory flashes?" Bing asked and Rose nodded. "You'll get use to it, Rose, Cayde says it takes time to get use to contact after being dead. Come on, let's go patrolling… maybe we'll see something nice." He said._

 _"That would be something," Rose smiled and after calling out her Sparrow, lightly placed Bing behind the protective glass. "Hang on." She chuckled and opened the throttle._

 _"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" ~_

"One big kid." Cayde smiled and inside Rose's helmet, Bing gave a little giggle.

"I like fast things." He admitted.

" _Very_ fast things." Rose chuckled.

 _~ Bing scanned the area and bounced lightly as Rose kept an eye out for trouble. "Anything?" She asked._

 _"Not a thing… oh wait, signal… no wait… what the?" Bing asked._

 _"What is it?" Rose asked._

 _"It keeps bouncing around… I can't get a lock on it…" Bing said._

 _"Keep trying." She said then suddenly fell to the ground on her rear. "Ow, what the?"_

 _"Rose?" Bing asked floating close to her as the ground made Rose shake and tremble. "Oh… not good." He said as Rose managed to grab a hold of a steady rock._

 _"Quake?" She asked, only to suddenly have the ground ripped from under her. "Ahhhhhhhhh!"_

 _"Rose!" Bing yelled and floated down after her as fast as he could, recording all the way down as Rose's body smashed and slammed into rocks, jagged corners and ledges before with one last painful thud, she hit the merciless ground, limbs and armour broken and bust in so many places Bing could be heard making a terrified bleeping sound. "Rose? Rose wake up! Rose? Rose please, this isn't funny… Rose?!"_

 _She didn't answer and for a long time, all Bing could do was scan her body over and over, locating the injuries and trying over and over to heal them, only to find that didn't work. He carefully floated over her helmeted head and landed carefully on it, scanning again and found that inside the helmet, Rose's skull had in fact been completely shattered and fragments of bone were now stuck inside the brain._

 _"I'm sorry Rose." he said then slowly the image began to fade and change between Bling and Rose's helmet as a light blue light washed over her and filled the dark room for a few moments. ~_

"You were revived." Ikora realized.

"I didn't like it…" Bing admitted from inside the helmet. "Rose can't die… she's not allowed to die… I'm not going to let her die."

"That does explain why I don't even remember the first hit on the way down." Rose said, "And why I felt like I'd been run over by an entire ship worth of Fallen."

"You don't have revival dampeners?" Shaxx asked, referring to the inserted chips all Guardians had that made revival by their Ghosts somewhat more bearable-most of the time.

"Do I look like I have the Glimmer to spare for those?" Rose asked him, "No one hands those things out cheap you know."

The images fuzzed back into focus and Rose gasped heavily, coughing and wheezing heavily as she shook violently.

 _~ "Rose?" Bing asked, voice filled with hope. "Guardian?"_

 _"I'm here Bing-Oh… oh that hurt-fuck…" Rose groaned, slowly and sluggishly pushing herself up and still healing limps. "Ow, ow, ow-Oh god-fuck… Ow…" She hissed as the image showed her hands and fingers slowly snapping back into their 'correct' positions. "God… Cayde's gonna kill me…"_

 _"Why?" Bing asked._

 _"I messed up his gloves," Rose said then froze, taking a deep breath as something began to beep and hiss around her. "Bing where are we?"_

 _"Um, in a dark pit full of... Oh dear." Bing said and dived behind Rose. "We have to go! Now!"_

 _"Fuck! I hate Vex!" Rose yelled and forced herself up to her feet and quickly ducked into cover, opening fire with her pulse rifle as slap rifle fire began to race towards them. "Send out a signal for help Bing, hurry!" She yelled as her shots bounced of the Vex where as their shots managed to cut through and ruin her armour._

 _"I'm trying!" ~_

"And this is about the time we came in." Vlad said.

"You can stop now," Cayde said and the images faded out and Bing ducked out of the helmet and gave himself a little shake. "Though I have to ask." He added with a small smile. "Why Bing?"

"Because he makes a 'bing' sound when he finished his scans." Rose smiled, "And he's cute."

"I am not cute." Bing said floating up and glaring at Rose, "I am a Ghost and Ghosts are not cute!"

"Really?" Rose asked with a smile, "So the fact you act like a little kitten, chase shiny things and twist your wires over every little mention of being cute isn't adorable?"

"Yes! I mean no!" Bing said then gave a sharp beep and rotated in a full circle. "I am not cute!" He said then hid back inside Rose's Helmet. "Not cute."

"So cute." Rose said again chuckling as Bing gave a frustrated buzz.

Arielle chuckled, "I have to agree with her."

"I prefer roguishly charming, myself." Vakarian stated as the Ghost returned to their Guardians.

Arielle grinned, "You are rather charming, roguish I'll have to think about."

"You would, you've been flirting with every female Ghost you see." Cayde's Ghost said.

"And you haven't Watson?" Atriums chuckled taking her place above Shaxx's shoulder.

"At least I don't flirt with others when I am trying to court a lady. That is rude." Watson stated.

"Hush up. You were trying to sweet talk me and Ferrum all the time you were flirting with Wiccan." Atriums stated.

"Was not."

"Were too." Wrex stated in a gruff static filled voice.

"Thank you Wrex."

"Still need an overhaul?" Watson asked, "I know a good dock where you can make backups of everything then have a complete defrag and debug scan while having a virus clean out."

"Thank you." Wrex said with another burst of static before he almost fell out of the air.

"I got you." Arielle said going down to one knee to catch the heavy Ghost and lifting him up again. "We'll get you sorted, Wrex. Promise." She smiled.

"Thank you." He said again.

"Well, now we seem to have a problem." Orion said. "We don't have spare rooms in the Tower and we still don't know what to tell the Speaker about all this."

"We could just ask for a copy of everything Bing has and show him that." Cayde suggested.

"Can you show us more?" Ikora asked.

Rose nodded and while Bing, still muttering about not being cute, let Cayde carefully attach a thin wire to his shell and then plug the other end into a port in a data pad, Rose searched her belt pouches for something and pulled out a crumpled and clearly very warn map and with a little help laid it out over the table.

"Oh my…" Arielle said.

"That does not look good…" Vlad said.

"What is all this Rose?" Orian asked.

"Every red dot is a Fallen camp, every orange dot is Vex and the light blue ones are reported sightings of the Tai Ravens nesting and the dark blue ones are known sights of nests and the green ones are the Hive. The Cabal have taken Mars and they were working on taking over Saturn's Moons as well, but they won't go near the planet itself, they're marked with the grey dots."

"And the Guardians?" Zavala asked. "Where are they?"

"Yellow dots are Titans. Purple dots are Warlocks." Rose said as she pointed to the few clustered pots of yellow, a tiny fraction that seemed lost in the seas of other colours. "The Tower there is cold, dark, eerie and dilapidated. The Fallen have practically moved in and while the Tower is still standing as home to the Guardians, very few stay in the lower areas and a lot of doors are locked and barricaded."

"What about you're Hunters?" Cayde asked, "What colour are they and what are they doing?" he added realizing there were no marks to show his group.

Rose took out a small scrap of paper. "By the last report, eleven Hunters are on the Tower, and five hundred and fourteen are out in the wilds doing solo or team runs, killing what they can. The only ones who stay still are the Blacksnake Hunters on Venus and Cayde-6 on the Tower."

"So few of you…" Ikora said. "How many Warlocks and Titans?"

"Warlocks stand at seventy-five thousand, Titans at ninety-five thousand… and those numbers aren't getting any better." Bing said. "When we first go to the Tower there were seventy-five thousand two hundred and six Warlocks and Ninety-five thousand seven hundred and five Titans."

"Why so few Hunters?" Lord Saladin asked speaking for the first time.

"We aren't so well liked since we don't answer to the Marshall laws that the Titans laid down and while Ikora is more polite in her ruling Warlocks can't cover the Hunters while they get into position and they are raging their own wars with the Hive that show up in every damn location we go too, plus Hunters don't do well reading scrolls and long hours plotting for what ifs and maybes." Rose explained. "Heck, the Commander took one look at me and told Cayde if I wasn't ready for battle within two days, I wasn't worth the effort."

"What is his issue with Hunters?" Orion asked, "The Zavala you talk about sounds like a bastard. No offence." He quickly added.

"I have no idea." Rose shrugged, "Ikora says 'He's trying to fight a battle and not seeing the war', whatever that means. Ikora has already ordered her Warlocks to trap the threats in areas we can control to buy time for everyone else to get out, but the Commander is trying to push the threats back, Cayde and Ikora keep saying he thinks that if he can just push them back, they will fall, but it's not working."

"How bad has it got where you're from?" Cayde asked, "Do you have any images? I'm struggling to see this world you came from in my mind." He admitted

"I think I have some images, if the fall didn't break it." Rose said and began to search her belt pouches again, finding a small device and hit the top allowing and fuzzy image to fade into life. "These are the images of my Tower and the people there." She projected the image onto the wall.

 _~ "Stay strong child, you will see the day of Hope…" ~_

"Is that me?" Ikora asked, unable to recognize herself as rather than the clean and shining armour and coat she normally wore, she was dressed in the heaviest of Warlock armour and looked much older and while she still held and air of wisdom she also seemed worried and unrested.

"Yes, that's the Ikora I know. She works out of Eris's corner, has ever since Eris was killed in the Awoken battle for the Reef." Rose explained. "And this is the Commander." She added as the image changed.

Blue skin marred with ugly white scars, right eye completely gone and his left ear ripped from is place, his armour, broken and cracked in so many places, showing more terrible ugly scars that could never be healed. Zavala had to look away from his own image.

"What happened to him?" Shaxx asked.

"Crota." Rose said looking at the image, "They say that he was captured alongside three others, some say they went down into the Moon to try and free it… others say that is was the Commander's own blind stupidity to face a Hive God… even Eris warned him it was a fool's errand but he didn't listen. Five years he was gone and when they finally found him at the entrance of the Hellmouth, he was strung up and half dead, his Ghost struggling to keep him alive. When he came back to the Tower he was different, everything about him changed." she shuddered. "They say that he can't see how badly he is losing this war because he won't let himself see it…"

"By the Light…" Ikora breathed in shock.

"What of the rest of us?" Shaxx asked.

Rose nodded and flicked the image over again, showing Shaxx and Saladin, both looking worn down and tired, but still fighting with a team of their finest students, their armour was heavy, made to resists and withstand heavy hits and their weapons were modified to fire as much ammo as they could at once.

Eris Morn looked much worse, her green orb was smaller, her face was scarred with burns and claw marks while she sat huddled in a dark corner with another familiar but different face and a well-known Fallen from the Reef.

"Variks and Petra are on the Tower?" Arielle asked in shock.

"There is no Reef where I come from anymore, it was destroyed by the Fallen House of Wolves Kell, Virixas and his three Chosen, Skolas, Irxis and Parixas… Few Awoken survived and those who did, cling to what their Queen can offer them for life." Rose explained, showing a second image where the usually powerful and beautiful Queen Mara Sov, being carried in a chair by her loyal fallen guardsmen clutching something in her right hand tightly.

"The Prince?" Arielle asked with concern in her voice.

Rose shook her head. "He gave his life to allow her time to get away. She carries his dagger, and before the attempt to retake the Reef she would only speak to Eris or Petra… She allowed Cayde to approach her but only when he brought her news of what his Hunters found about the House of Wolves. They tried to fight for the Reef but… Eris and many others didn't come back…" She explained as the image shifted again.

Gone was the shiny Exo plating and cheeky grins, replaced with old but still good Hunter armour, one leg in some kind of brace and both eyes a much duller shade of yellow, one hand resting on what looked like a sniper rifle as he sat at a window, using his place to take shots at Servitors that got too close to the Tower.

 _~ "You can barrow my gloves 'til you find your own, kid, but don't forget to give 'em back, my old joints will rust if I lose my spares." ~_

Cayde looked at the gloves Rose wore, "He must've really trusted you."

"He trusted all his Hunters." Rose assured. "He calls us kids or his kids, and he knows all of us by name."

"He remembers all five hundred and twenty five of you?" Shaxx asked.

"You don't remember the names of your twenty or so students?" Rose asked back and Shaxx very quickly shut up.

There was a clear, 'bing' sound and Bing floated up off the table and gave a little twist. "I'm done." He said.

"Thank you." Cayde smiled, "Well, while we figure out what to do, maybe you four should go get some rest, you all look beat."

"Sounds good to me," Vlad smiled. "Come on Orion, I'm not listening to you and Arielle argue all night again." He added.

"Oh shut up, like you never argue with a girl." Orion stated.

"I am not married or planning to marry so no I don't." Vlad laughed.

"You can bunk with me for the night Rose, I'm sure you'll need it after the day you've had." Arielle smiled.

"Thanks." Rose smiled and caught Bing before he could fall out of the air. "Someone didn't defrag while he recharged."

"I was busy." Bing said.

"Sure you were."

"Arielle, a word before you go." Ikora asked as the doors opened and Vlad and Orion made a bee-line for the stairs while Rose waited for Arielle.

"Yes Ikora, Vakarian why don't you and Wrex show Rose to my room." Arielle said and once they were out of earshot, Ikora's face turned grim. "I know that look."

"Keep an eye on this new Hunter-something about her is strange. Don't let her out of your sight."

"That was the plan." Arielle nodded and quickly raced off after Rose and the Ghosts.

"Is this what you feared was coming, Eris?" Cayde asked.

"No, this is not the Darkness I've seen," Eris admitted, "however, this is not something I had even known was possible, though many have whispered it could happen."

"Another place in the universe where our War is going so badly. Could this be a sign of a dimensional break down?" Shaxx asked.

"Maybe, but we shouldn't rush to conclusions." Ikora said, "We must look into this carefully. If Rose came through a rift, there may be other places where something else could come to our world."

"You thinking what I think you are?" Cayde asked looking at the Tai Raven Claw and shuddering.

"If what she said is true… then we aren't ready for the Darkness that might come from her world to ours if this goes unchecked." Ikora stated. "I'll have the Warlocks and Master Rahool begin research immediately."

"Then we send in a team to check it out and pray to the Light that we don't ever fall to the horrors her world has." Zavala said.

"Ok Wrex, this is gonna tickle some but I promise it will help." Arielle said gently placing Wrex on a table and attracted several wires to him and began to run a program. "That should flush the viruses out and give you some free memory, then we run a memory back up and that should clear more space, and tomorrow we go shopping for a new Ghost Shell."

"That would be nice. Something big and strong." Wrex said. "Maybe something to make Orion stop complaining. A stun gun, perhaps?" he asked, hopefully.

"Now that isn't nice." Vakarian said, "You know he doesn't mean to be so harsh." He settled into a neatly hung sheet that made a very snug hammock. "And he does appreciate everything you have done for him, he's just bad at showing it." He added with a slight clicking as he twisted and settled into recharge mode.

"He's a man." Arielle stated running a hand through her fringe and leaning back in her chair, now dressed in a slightly baggy t-shirt and a pair of comfortable pants. "They ALL struggle to show thanks at some point."

"Even Vlad?" Rose asked as she finished towel drying her hair, dressed in some borrowed sleepwear for the night, her armor currently set out in a neat pile and clean after a run in the large tank like washer Arielle had in her room. "He seems good at showing his thanks to Sovereign. And he was nice to Eris."

"Ok, most men struggle." Arielle corrected with a smile, carefully placing a sheet over Wrex as the larger Ghost flickered into recharge. "Do you want me to hang another sheet for you Bing? Vakarian loves his hammock." 

"No thank you," Bing said, "I'll just sleep on Rose's chest, I know she's not going to die if I sleep there."

"I will not die Bing. We are safe here. This Tower is different from ours." Rose assured softly. "Besides you need a good recharge and defrag."

"Ok… but tomorrow I sleep on your chest." Bing stated.

"Alright." Rose smiled.

Arielle smiled and after folding a pillow in half, tied the corners together and hooked them onto a pair of small nails and nodded. "Done."

Bing floated up and then settled himself into the makeshift hammock, snuggling sitting in the fold so that only his eyes and the very tip of his shell poked out of the hammock. "It's cosy."

"I would say cute." Rose chuckled and Bing gave a soft humph before settling into his recharge mode, evident by the soft blip his shell made to signal the beginning of a defrag program.

"He really cares for you." Arielle whispered.

"He looked for me for years," Rose said, "I heard from Cayde that every time he thought he'd find me only to find nothing, he'd go back to Cayde and ask why he wasn't a good Ghost; he thought he'd never find me."

"Bless his Light." Arielle smiled. "You got everything you need, I can get you a spare pillow if you need one."

"No thanks, I'm ok." Rose assured, "I just hope I remember how to sleep on a comfortable surface… usually we are on the floor, the bunks or in the ship." She admitted, "I'm not use to soft surfaces."

"Life really was hard for you, wasn't it?" Arielle asked.

Rose shrugged. "We don't have the chance to rest or relax like you do… you can at least sleep easy since your Traveler still has a lot of light and is almost whole, where I'm from, trying to sleep is like asking for something to kill you."

"How often did you sleep before?" Arielle asked. "Bing mentioned it was never easy for you to sleep."

"Not very often, it's never safe to rest for too long or too deeply… most of us just rest our eyes and take a moment to clear the mind, we're constantly moving or fighting so rest isn't really an option for all of us." Rose admitted settling on the comfortable sofa. "Usually those who do slip into a deeper sleep are ill or have reached their limits… at least that's what Ace and J-Cey told me."

"Who were they to you?" the Warlock asked. "They seemed close to you."

"They saved me from a Knight on the Moon after a scout mission went wrong. I tried to hide after some Titans stirred the Hive and a Knight found us, I didn't have the light to fight him so I ran and he chased me. Next thing I know someone shouts down and a pair of rockets shoot past me and the Knight goes down, Ace reported into Cayde and since then we've been something like teammates… J-Cey and Ace were, well they shared a bunk." Rose said, "They were always kind to me but I never really had time to get use to physical contact with others, shaking hands and playful taps or a sparring match I can handle, but hugs and cuddles… I'm still getting the hang of that kind of contact."

"Ah, that explains what happened in the clip." Arielle said, "Bing mentioned memories."

"Yea… I get flashes sometimes, fragments of memory or something I have seen before that just come and go, they leave me dazed and sometimes I'll just hit the floor with shakes, they seem to happen when something startles me or when I'm not thinking. Scares the hell out of me and sometimes I just… Well, you saw what I did to Ace and J-Cey." She said fluffing the pillow she'd been given a little, more a nervous fidget then a real attempt to soften the pillow. "Besides, Ace, J-Cey and Cayde, I never told anyone about them before since they seemed so insignificant in the bigger scheme of things but I guess now I'm here maybe I can try and figure out what they mean."

"Maybe I can help you, they say talking about the problems help." Arielle suggested, "And honestly, if one Awoken cannot help another, we are lost as a people."

Rose smiled. "You're right and really it is nice to talk to another Awoken who isn't mentally unstable, since the Reef was destroyed most Awoken have slowly been going insane. Even the Queen is slipping, no matter how much Petra and Cayde try to help keep her sane, losing so much so quickly and so violently… She isn't the Queen she once was."

"Did you see the Reef before it was lost?" Arielle asked.

Rose shook her head. "No. I only saw the pictures Petra showed me, Variks talked about how nice it was there even if it was sometimes cold. I never had the honour of speaking to the Queen but I know she was once proud, powerful and the most feared Awoken in all the Reef if you ever crossed her." She said, "I wish I'd known her…"

"Why?"

"Because then I could have known what a true Awoken is meant to be like." Rose said, "I'm just a revived Guardian now, but I served her at least I think I did, I must have, Awoken have only ever served a Queen… but, I don't remember what my role was, or who I was to the Awoken people I just can't understand how I would have acted before Bing revived me and it scares me to think that even though I don't serve her now, I have forgotten things that were once important to me, people that were close to me, brothers or sisters. Was I a mother or did I have someone else in my life those are things I would like to think I'd remember but I just... Don't."

"And you worry about that?" Arielle asked.

"Don't you?" Rose asked. "What if you were working alongside someone who in the last life was your partner or your own child? What if you were right next to your own twin but you didn't remember them? How awful would that be…?" she said hugging the blanket to her chest. "I feel silly thinking about it but at the same time; what if I have forgotten people who once meant the world to me, or if I have forgotten a sibling? If these flashes are old memories… if someone else has the same kind of memories, what will they think of me for forgetting them?"

"That's not silly." Arielle assured softly. "Everyone has those feeling sometimes-I know I did for a long time." She added, "But then, someone told me something that made me realize that even if I have forgotten those I once loved it didn't mean I was a bad person, it just meant that the time I had with those people had run its cause and they would want me to be happy without them."

"What did they tell you?" Rose asked.

"If we spend our lives looking behind us, we miss what is in front of us and that means we miss out on those we can love now." Arielle smiled fondly, "And you know he was right. I may have forgotten someone I may have loved before- siblings, parents or even a partner and child-but trying to find a memory when I have been dead so long, I might just miss the ones I'm meant to love now."

Rose thought about that for a time and then a small smile covered her lips. "That… that makes sense. That makes a lot of sense." She said.

"Good," Arielle smiled, "Now, it's late and we have a busy day tomorrow. Time for bed." She said.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" Rose asked, placing her pillow down behind her head. And settling on the sofa.

"First stop, the Bounty Board and then wherever the bounties take us." Arielle smiled. "We've got some work to do before you have the light you need to fight for a new ship that I think will suit you." She added turning the lights down low as she climbed into bed. "Night Rose."

"Night Arielle."

"I swear he's cheating."

"Nah, Orion's just got better control."

"Come on! I got seventy Glimmer on this!"

Vlad chuckled as he watched from a small table with some of his fellow Hunters, a few Warlocks and Titans, enjoying a canister of oil as others around him played a game of Blackjack while Orion arm wrestled an Exo Warlock who thought he could beat the current reigning champion.

Really, Vlad had no idea why the Titan always won such a match, but he did know that Orion never cheated. The Titan always put his free hand behind his back when he wrestled and even going so far as to remove his armor platings and ask someone to check him before he started a match to insure he wasn't wearing any kind of hidden device that might help him win.

And people still accused him of cheating; but those were the sore losers.

So Orion had set a little challenge up, two nights he'd come down to this small but comfy bar, where the Warlocks and Hunters could oversee everything that he did and he would wrestle anyone who came to his table if that was their choice, so far, he had only ever lost to Zavala, Lord Shaxx and was waiting for a rematch with Lord Saladin as the two had been interrupted before they could finish their match.

His reasoning for choosing the bar: Warlocks despised cheaters and watched for them like hawks and Hunters would step in if someone didn't take losing with some dignity.

That and no one would ever start a fight right outside the docks. Holiday would kill them if anything she worked on was ruined by their foolishness and that was after the pilots of any ships that were ruined got hold them the trouble makers.

Vlad gently tugged an unsuspecting Warlock out of the way just as the now defeated Exo Warlock was thrown to the floor from losing his match against Orion. "And that makes twenty wins," he grinned.

"Nice." Orion smiled, wiping his face with a cool cloth and rubbing his hand slightly. "Good grip on him."

"I think it's time we call it a night lads and lasses." A Warlock stated, his rich Scottish accent carrying over the noise despite how quiet he was. "It's getting close to sunrise."

"A good sleep and then off to shoot for Bounties." Vlad smiled. "Come on Champ. We still have a bet to win."

"You bet against the kid and his team again, didn't you?" Orion asked with a chuckle. "You know he hasn't stopped since he accepted this bet, right?"

"That was the idea," Vlad admitted, "They couldn't just run the Crucible and Iron Banner all the time, so why not give them a challenge that didn't restrict them to just one or two places each time?"

"You have a point, but really, first team to beat one thousand and one of each enemy we have?" Orion stated, "You could have been a little nicer and may it five hundred for them."

"We hit five hundred in less than a week." Vlad pointed out, "And then you met Arielle and boy, did you lose your score for a few hours."

"Shut up." Orion said. "You know I have a plan to complete."

"Yea, set up a future with lots of Glimmer and let her have the chance not to work her ass off on bounties and killing Fallen then buy her a nice big ship with lots of rooms and plenty of space for her to put the collected heads of her bounties, and maybe then you'll realize all she really wants is you. Glimmer, ships, ring and all be damned." Vlad said.

"You know me Vlad," Orion replied seriously, "I have to give her something to prove I can support her if she ever needs it."

"Arielle doesn't care about that kinda stuff." Vlad said, "If she did she'd have stayed on the Reef."

"Don't." Orion growled bitterly, "Don't go there."

"Sorry, but you and I both know it." Vlad said as they reached their shared room. "Look, just remember she's stayed with you this long, despite all the times you steal her Bounties and forget that she can look after herself. If you can't see that she'll stay even if you can't give her the ring and stability of future support, then you, my friend, are gonna have a reality check real soon."

Orion huffed but his shoulders sagged in a defeat that told Vlad everything he'd said had gone in and was now, like always, going around and around in his friend's head like clockwork, "Good night Orion." He said and the Titan nodded silently as he went into his bedroom and the door locked closed, leaving Vlad to his own devices.

In all honesty, Vlad didn't mean to be harsh or so blunt in his words, but Orion was becoming so lost in his own plans he was starting to forget that the future support plan was not what Arielle cared about, heck she didn't even care if she got a ring, all the Warlock wanted was Orion and the genuine promise of a lifetime together.

Glimmer would be nice. A ring would be grand, but really, what use were they if the one you love wasn't there because they were so busy trying to prove to everyone else around them that they could give their loved one everything?

Vlad sighed and after changing into a loose pair of shorts, more for the modesty of any poor fool that woke him up before his alarm went off, the Exo laid himself on his bed and cycled down to recharge, leaving his audios on and made sure his weapons were in arms reach.

Just in case.

Vakarian came out of his recharge slowly floating out of his hammock and gave a slowly careful rotation of his plating while blinking his eye to make sure he wasn't still groggy from slow start up, he could hear Arielle in the small kitchenette area making breakfast while Wrex was on the table still undergoing a defrag and system clear out…

He paused and blinked again.

Rose was curled up under the blanket she'd been given, still sleeping soundly, he could tell thanks to his scanners telling him that not only was she asleep but she was also dreaming, but that wasn't what had made him pause.

Settled on the pillow next to Rose's head was Bing, his smaller shell half buried in the plush pillow.

"He moved during the night." Wrex said from his place on the table, still sounding somewhat sluggish and slow, but at least Vakarian couldn't hear the static anymore. "I don't think he realized he was moving, since he kept falling then catching himself."

"Moving in Recharge, poor thing must not have recharged fully for a while." Vakarian said, "Hmmmm."

"What you thinking, Vakarian?" Wrex asked.

"Maybe we can help him, he clearly needs some programs updated and maybe a new shell to help with storage," he said, "Really, he has been through a lot, and Ari says that some time to oneself is good for the soul."

"Along with a good virus flush, memory backups and defrag." Wrex said, "Now I just need a new Shell and I will be ready." He added.

"I think we will be going for a good run today so if one drops we'll do what we can to get one for you." Vakarian assured as he heard a soft sniffle and Rose started to stir.

"And… wake up… time." Bing said in sluggish way as he slowly twitched and floated up slightly twisting and turning his shell somewhat. "Oh… I sluggish…"

"Did you defrag?" Vakarian asked.

"Yes… but I still feel really slow… maybe I missed something." Bing said as his systems bleeped and pinged with a Virus scans. "Oh, my recording system is still going." He realized and after a soft beep his shell gave a much swifter and clearer movement. "There, that's better."

"Not to sound rude, Bing, but… when was your last overhaul?" Vakarian asked. "It seems to me that your systems seem a little slow and out of date, maybe an overhaul or a complete upgrade will help make your systems less sluggish when you come out of recharge."

"What is an overhaul?" Bing asked innocently.

Wrex was glad he could now snap images and video feeds, capturing forever what would likely be a very rare moment when Vakarian _almost_ fell from his place in the sky and gave a rather undignified gasp of shock before he caught himself.

"You've never had maintenance?" Vakarian asked.

"No, I was looking for Rose, I didn't have time to go get maintenance." He admitted.

"Well that changes now." Arielle smiled as she set down two plates of breakfast at the table, "Vakarian do me a favour and let the Speaker know we are coming to visit before we leave." She requested as she rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms.

"Sure thing Ari." Vakarian said and hovered slightly higher as Rose woke with a long yawn.

"What time is it?" She asked slowly sitting up and rubbing her face and ruffling her own hair a little. "How long was I asleep?"

"We went to sleep at 23:45 and it is now… ummm… 09:30." Bing said in slight confusion, "Wow…we really slept…"

"Really?" Rose asked, "We never sleep that long." She said, rolling her shoulders and neck to try and ease a small ache in them. "What's cooking?" She asked sniffing the air.

"Eggs, bacon, hash browns, large mushrooms, beans and some sausages." Arielle smiled. "Come eat, you'll need the energy and strength." She added with a chuckle as Vakarian and Wrex showed Bing around the apartment.

Rose smiled, taking a moment to stretch before her stomach began to growl.

"Enjoy." Arielle said as Rose sat at the small table and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Thank you." Rose smiled and used the neatly placed fork and knife to cut her meat to a more manageable size as she ate, pausing to take a long drink of water when she needed it.

Arielle nodded with a soft quirk of her lip, glad her cooking was appreciated so much so that there wasn't even a drop of the bean source on the plate when Rose was finished.

Bing hovered around and then dropped back into the pillow with a happy bleeping sound. "Soft and puffy."

"And he says he isn't cute." Wrex teased from his place.

"He's a big kid at heart. It's why he hates thinking he's failed things and he hates it when others doubt him, especially now that he's found me." Rose smiled, "Even if he knows I don't care what others say about him."

"Well, that won't be a problem here." Arielle smiled. "Ghosts here are very friendly and they tend to be curious of each other, but no one ever insults anyone else's Ghost, even if they are pink with yellow flowers on them."

Rose laughed, "Now that is something I need to see."

"Zavala and Cayde lost a bet against Ikora and she made them put their Ghosts in a floral shell for a week," Arielle said and Vakarian showed the image against the wall making Rose laugh more. "Get dressed, once we've got our bounties and been to see the Speaker for an overhaul for Bing we'll be on our way to get your light up." She said while clearing the table.

"Ok." Rose smiled, "Is the Speaker here still kind? Or has he locked himself in his room and refuses to come out?" She asked changing from her night ware into her armour again, faintly aware that they had a fresh clean smell to them now.

"He's in the North Tower and I think he is kind, he never demands we do something and he is always willing to offer advice. Though sometimes I don't really understand what he is saying to me until after I've thought about it for a while. He likes to be cryptic sometimes." Arielle said, going by her own experiences.

"Sounds like he's a lot nicer than my Speaker." Rose said, adjusting her chest plate and chuckled as Bing floated over and then lifted up her Hunter's cloak for her. "Then again, everyone seems nicer here," She added taking the hood and pulling it over her head, adjusting it so it didn't cover her eyes.

"I wonder if something different happened in your time than here; maybe that would explain it." Vakarian suggested as he and Bing bobbed in the air, while Wrex flickered into Arielle's armour.

"Maybe. But I have no idea how bad or good things were before I was woken up." Rose admitted, tightening her arm plates and then carefully pulled on the worn old leather gloves that were just a tiny bit too big at the wrists but fit snugly over her hands.

"Rose?" Bing asked when she paused and just started at the gloves.

"I just wonder if I will get to give these back. He said they were his best pair." Rose admitted. "But… I don't know how to get back."

Arielle felt a little twinge of pity for Rose, "Well, look at it this way, while you are here we can get your light up and while we are doing that, the Vanguard and the Speaker will be looking for a way to get you home. If you get stronger here, when you get back to your time, you could make the difference and start to heal your home."

"Do you really think that's possible?" Rose asked.

"We all start weak Rose, but with a little practice, a lot of patience and a good fireteam, you will become stronger than you ever thought you'd be." Arielle smiled. "Now come on, we better get going before the boys try to tag along with us and kill everything. At first it's amusing but it gets old real quick."

Rose smiled and followed Arielle out of the room, closely followed by Bing and Vakarian, who paused to lock the door as they left.

"Good Morning." A cheery voice called as a Ghost floated by.

"Morning." Another called back.

"Morning all." Arielle smiled as they reached the Bounty Board. "Let's see-kill, kill, kill, primary weapon kills, and specials and oh Hive bounties." She said searching the board and taking a hand full for herself and then began picking off others that were smaller but could still be done. "Here you go Rose, easy ones."

"Thanks." Rose said looking over the bounties as Arielle handed them to her, kill Fallen and Hive, kill so many with one specific weapon, they seemed easy enough, she folded them neatly and placed them in her armour for safe keeping.

"Everyone is so nice here." Bing seemed to beam, floating in a lazy circle as they walked towards the North Tower, passing a few guardians with Master Rahool and headed into the cooler and more sheltered area of the tower, pausing when he heard something and peeked around a corner. "Oh."

"What is it Bing?" Rose asked before rounding the corner and also paused. "Wow…"

"Not like home?" Arielle asked.

Rose shook her head. "It's nothing like this where I am from, the whole area is dark and unsteady. It looks so peaceful here."

"The Speaker likes it here, says it helps him to focus and concentrate on the Traveler's needs." Arielle explained, "Come, he'll be waiting for us."

Rose nodded and followed the Warlock to the Speaker's Chamber, smiling as Bing floated towards the large windows and looked out at the Traveler in awe as they climbed the stairs to the small platform, filled with bits and parts and things and stuff she couldn't even name and stood at a small desk, a simple Ghost hovering at his side, stood a man in white robes and a mask covering his face.

"Speaker?" Arielle asked keeping her voice low so as not to completely shatter the quiet air of the room.

"Welcome, Guardians." He greeted, "How may I help you today?"

"Rose's Ghost he needs an overhaul and maybe a new shell if you can spare the time?" the Warlock suggested nodding to the smaller Ghost hovering by the window. "Bing."

"Oh! Sorry," Bing said and quickly floated over and hovered by Rose, making a soft bleeping sound. "I got distracted."

"It is understandable," the Speaker seemed to be smiling and offered a hand to the Ghost, "May I?" he asked.

Bing looked at Rose, who nodded and Bing cautiously lowered himself into the offered hand, and let the Speaker inspect him.

Gentle hands carefully turned and twisted his shell plating slowly, checking for strain and stress damage, before he was carefully placed on the desk. "Your Shell is showing signs of elevated stress from your light. For now, I can give you a protective coating but I will have to make you a new shell from scratch," He explained as his own Ghost, a plain white and grey shelled creature float above Bing, making an assuring chiming sound.

"I can pay for that." Arielle said before Rose could fret over the cost of such a shell. "Can he be given an overhaul now or shall we wait?"

"Has he had his memories backed up?" the Speaker asked.

"Just a moment, please," Bing said and Rose heard something ping in her helmet. "Backed up."

Rose nodded. "Thank you."

A warm white light suddenly washed over Bing from the Speaker's Ghost, making him float up a little from the desk as his shell tickled with static, the Speaker's Ghost carefully cleansing Bing's systems and replacing them with newer ones that left him with far more space in his memory banks.

"This feels tingly," Bing said with a little shiver, "but in a nice way." After a short while the light faded and Bing gave a little twist of his plating. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." The Speaker said and after using a fine bristled brush to apply a thin coat of what felt like clear paint that dried quickly over Bing's shell, he moved aside to let Bing float back to Rose, where he took up a place over her shoulder. "Will there be anything else?"

"Not today, Speaker, thank you." Arielle smiled and lead Rose back down the stairs. "And now, we go Bounty hunting." She said.

"Where to first?"

Arielle grinned and Rose could've sworn Arielle's eyes were brighter. "The Moon."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter two.

Learning and Earning.

Vlad was debated going a few rounds in the Crucible when a panicked Orion came running around the corner from the dorms and almost ran the Exo over. "Whoa there Titan, what's your hurry?" he asked.

"They're GONE!" Orion yelled. "Arielle and Rose are gone! Ghosts and all!"

"Slow down," Vlad said, "Maybe they just went for a walk? Let go see the Vanguard, Ikora always knows where her Warlocks are." He said, not overly worried since most of the day had been rather slow and it was only mid-afternoon and the day so far had been fairly normal.

Nothing much to do on the Bounty Board and there was nothing he was needed for today so he had been thought he could have the day to himself and simply relax.

It seemed not.

Orion had all but bunny hopped a fellow Titan who had been walking towards the Vanguard Chamber when he hadn't moved fast enough while Vlad stayed at the top of the stairs while Orion spoke to Ikora.

Ikora shook her head, Orion spun around so fast and charged out of the room grabbing Vlad as he went.

Zavala looked at Ikora who shrugged with a knowing smile and Cayde sniggered behind his hand in a mock cough.

"Will one of you explain?" Zavala asked.

"Your boy's about to ask Ikora's girl the Big Question." Cayde chuckled playfully and ducked the harmless glare from Ikora. "Kidding!"

"He's looking for Arielle and can't find her and since he hasn't got Wrex with him he has to do it the hard way rather than just ask Wrex to send Vakarian a message to get an answer." Ikora explained, "Now, where were we?" She asked.

"Planning to investigate the cause of Rose showing up on our Venus in a totally different place then where she was on her Venus." Wiccan stated, her spiny shell turning slightly as she hovered over an area of the map.

"How you don't get confused with all this I will never know." Cayde said.

"We're Ghosts, we never get confused." Watson assured with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, Vlad was dragged from place to place, searching for Arielle and Rose, from one side of the tower to the others, in ever lounge and bar before they took off searching in their ships.

"I'm telling you, you're getting worked up over nothing." Vlad said.

 _~ "And I'm telling you I'm not, who knows what trouble she went and got herself into. Rose is a rookie not a pro like us!" ~_ Orion said. _~ "Where has she gone?" ~_

"Ask Wrex." Vlad said, "Really this would be so much easier if you would just forgive the guy."

Orion was silent on his end and then gave a defeated huff. _~ "Let's just find them and get back." ~_

Vlad sighed and followed Orion's ship with his own. "Here we go again."

The day was going nicely.

They'd finished up all of Arielle's Bounties and now they were hunting for Rose's needed kills and on the way, they'd found two Golden Chests, much to Rose's delight as she was now sporting a new gun and a Jade Rabbit emblem.

It was nice to have someone around who didn't rush off and charge in, heck, Rose was more careful then Arielle thought any Hunter would be, always scanning her surroundings and taking the time to count the head she had to shoot.

Currently, Arielle was sat on a high ledge of moon rock, watching through her scope as another unsuspecting Dreg fell dead to the ground, a perfectly placed bullet hole between the eyes. "Nice shot."

 _~ "Thanks." ~_ Rose answered, keep her voice low now that the group of Fallen was aware they were being targeted began to search for the hidden sniper who'd attacked them. _~ "I got six, what do you count?" ~_

"Seven, there's another Dreg behind the rocks to your left."

 _~ "I got him." ~_

The area echoed with four more shots before there was a pause for reload, then after a short pause, two more shorts, then at last a third. "Nicely done." Arielle smiled. "You're good with that rifle."

 _~ "I have had lots of practice." ~_ Rose answered back with a smile in her voice. _~ "Now where?" ~_

"I know just the place." Arielle smiled, hopping on her Sparrow and taking a slow pace towards a place she knew almost by heart. "Come on." She said and Bing received some coordinates to follow, "You should have finished that Fallen bounty by now. So now we move on to bigger Aliens."

 _~ "Hive?" ~_ Rose asked.

"Yep." The Warlock smiled and heard the buzzing of a sparrow in the move before Rose pulled up alongside her. "How good are you with the rest of your weapons?" She asked.

"I'm better with range, but I can use a knife when I need too, not such a good throwing arm though." Rose admitted, swerving to avoid the rocks they were passing. "If you hear me shout fire in the hole, run like hell."

"That bad?" Arielle asked.

"I nearly hit J-Cey once and he was three feet in front of me."

"Ouch." Arielle said, slowing to a steady hover. "And from here we walk." She said, hopping off her sparrow and checking her weapons.

"So, we are going in there?" Rose asked looking down at the larger opening in the side of the ship where there were some odd wall structures and the tell tail movement of green that shouldn't be there.

"Yep." Arielle nodded, "We take out the Acolytes there and inside we will likely find Knights, Wizards and Thrall, killing Thrall and Acolytes should be ease for you, the Knights might be a little harder but still do able as long as you keep a distance and keep moving, but the Wizards you might have some trouble with." She explained.

"Why?"

"Wizards have a shield like Knights but their shield is Solar and stays up unless you hit it with a stronger bullet than you currently have, or you hit them in that instant the shield drops to give them chance to attack." The Warlock explained, "I'll help you with getting the shields down, but after that you have to do the killing, deal?"

Rose smiled, "Sounds like fun." She said nodding. "Do all Wizards have a Solar shield?" she asked as they slowly made their way down towards their chosen way inside, Arielle leading while Rose followed her movements.

"Eris says that there is one who has an Arc Shield, but I personally haven't seen that one, Orion on the other hand, he apparently was the one to take her out with help from Vlad." Arielle said.

Rose was about to ask Arielle something when a sudden growl made her pause. "Arielle what is that growling sound?"

"Growling Sound?" Arielle repeated while searching the area and then smiled, looking down, "Hang tight Rose, I'll deal with this."

"What is it?" She asked.

"Something fun." Arielle smiled and let go of the wall, "Let's dance boys!"

"What is she doing?" Rose asked, finding a stable place to rest and looked back in time to see Arielle driving a fist into the helmeted head of a Fallen Vandal while firing at the shocked Dregs who stood shell shocked at the sudden attack from above.

"She's having fun." Bing said sounding like he was smiling.

"Where the hell are they?!" Orion yelled in frustration.

Vlad sighed. "We've been to Venus, Mars and she clearly isn't here on earth, where else do you think she might be?" He asked, already knowing the answer as he had asked Sovereign to find Arielle through Vakarian's signature and sure enough, she was where Vlad expected her to be.

"The Reef?" Orion groaned. "Great, she's in the one place I can't go."

"Try again." Vlad said and began to drag Orion back to the trans-mat zone, "and think history." He added.

"We already searched the archives on Venus." Orion said.

"Closer to home." Vlad said.

"Where is she Vlad?!" Orion growled in anger. "And stop playing games!"

"She, Vakarian, Rose, Bing and Wrex are on the Moon, currently at the entrance of the Hell Mouth, about to go in no doubt." Vlad said, "Now, when we get there, likely chances are they are running Bounties so let's-"

"Let's get up there and help! Gods only know what trouble they are in with Rose at such a weak light!" Orion said and took off in a run.

Sovereign looked at Vlad. "Should we tell him?"

"No, he isn't listening as usual." The Exo Hunter sighed. "Keep track of Rose and Bing, Cayde wants her under watch and as good as Arielle is with her teachings, she can't see the light increase in a Hunter like she can other Warlocks."

"Already on it and I must say, she is earning Light very well, she is already about the same as a six month in Guardian." The Ghost stated. "Arielle must be letting her do the killing while she acts as support."

"Arielle always was a good teacher." Vlad chuckled. "Come on then, let's go make sure Orion doesn't get his head bitten off."

"By Arielle or by a Thrall?" Sovereign asked with a chuckle of his own.

"Anyone else?!" Arielle yelled, "Come on!"

No answer.

"I think you killed them all." Vakarian stated.

"Well that was boring." Arielle huffed.

"That was amazing!" Rose called down. "I've never seen anyone take on a Fallen squadron alone and win the way you did." She added, climbing down the cliff face. "Can you teach me?"

"Maybe another time, right now you have a Hive Bounty to get." The Warlock smiled. "Come on there is stuff to kill and places to go." She added and together the two headed into the Hell Mouth and while Arielle took the time to insure there was no really troublesome Hive lurking around, she didn't take kills from Rose as the Hunter moved to get better aim on the hidden Acolytes and Knights, hidden when she needed to reload but always keeping an eye on the places she knew the Hive would come from as they entered the ship.

Slowly they moved deeper into the Hive's tunnels, clearing rooms as they went, pausing to assess the rooms before going inside Arielle going ahead to make sure there were no surprises for Rose before hiding in some small amount of cover while using her shots to flush out the hidden Knights for Rose who was getting very good at taking them down and spotting them on her own.

"I'm getting a broken signal," Vakarian said quietly in Arielle's helmet. "Sovereign and Vlad are here, likely with Orion." He added.

"They'll take a while to get here," Arielle said, "Let them search."

"Understood."

"Arielle…" Rose called and Arielle looked up to see Rose stood waiting for her by the door. "I keep hearing something… like something heavy or big moving around somewhere." She said.

"How big?" Arielle asked.

"No idea, it just sounds big…" Rose said and Arielle moved closer to the Hunter, listening and then paused and put a hand to the wall, waiting for a while before she felt it, like some odd heartbeat, the wall vibrated against her palm, something big was moving around.

"Hmmmm…" She said and double checked her weapons. "Stay close to the wall and keep quiet."

Rose nodded and followed Arielle as the Warlock made her way along the wall, the movement making the walls and floor shake until Arielle saw a door way and laying through the door way, was the crushed and dead body of a Thrall.

"Weapons hot," She warned softly and Rose nodded, following Arielle's lead and together they moved to the door.

There, pacing back and forth with heavy, lumbering steps, dragging broken chains from its arms was a Hive Ogre, hunched over and growling as it moved back and forth, at its feet and all around the room, dead Thrall, Knights and Acolytes lay scattered and crushed, burnt or half eaten.

"What happened?" Rose asked in a whisper.

"By the look of it, it got lose," Arielle said taking out a data pad and looking through its content, "Let's see who you are big and ugly." she added.

"They have names?" Rose asked.

"The important ones do." Arielle nodded and carefully searched through her files from Eris and Ikora for answers. "Got him, Phogoth the Untamed, the file says he's an abomination the Hive plan to use on us, if they ever tame him, looks like that idea is on hold." She said putting the pad away. "According to the file, his weak point is his chest, but with the way he stands and walks, it's gonna be hard to get at it."

"No kidding." Rose said, looking around.

Phogoth looked towards the door and growled, before turning away from it again. "Why hasn't he seen us?" Arielle asked.

"There are dead Hive everywhere in here," Rose said, "I know a trick the Warlocks used in my world was to take the dead skin of the Thrall or Acolyte and that helped them get closer to the Hive without being seen or caught out." She explained. "They smell the same as the Hive so sneaking around was easy."

"That," Arielle began then realized just how that might have worked, "was a disgusting, but smart idea."

"It might be why he hasn't noticed us yet, too many dead Hive around him to pin point us." Rose added, "What do we do?"

Arielle looked at Rose them looked at the pacing Ogre, carefully weighing her options, a normal Ogre wouldn't be so hard for Rose to take down, but this one was different, it had been altered somehow and that made it more dangerous. It was likely any of the Hive that were still alive would attack to defend Phogoth if he was attacked, despite the fact the Ogre had killed many of those who were likely once his keepers.

If they attacked, there was a chance of Thralls as always but there was also a high chance of Wizards, especially with an Ogre like this one. Unless they had already been taken care of by the Ogre himself.

She needed to check that.

"Vakarian."

"Yes Arielle?" the ghost asked as he flittered into view.

"Scan for Wizards, tell me if there are any in this room and where." She requested and Vakarian nodded, carefully searching the dead as he darted from cover to cover, unseen by the huge monstrosity that paced the room like a caged animal.

"He knows something's different in here." Rose said.

"We have time." Arielle assured softly.

"Three dead Wizards," Vakarian stated as he returned to the safety of Arielle's helmet. "Looks like he wasn't too happy with his treatment." He added.

"Ok," Arielle nodded and again looked at her options before nodding. "Alright Rose, this is going to be your kill." The Warlock stated in a confident tone.

"Oh, ok. Wait? What?!" Rose asked in utter shock, catching the Ogre's attention as the two Guardians quickly moved to new cover as he charged them, ducking into a cave for cover amongst the dead bodies. "Why am I killing him?"

Arielle looked at her and replied, "Because you've never killed an enemy like this before and it's a major confidence booster. If you can kill Phogoth, you can handle more than you think." She assured. "You're not doing this alone, I can keep him at distance while you deal the killing blows."

"But what if I screw it up? I- I've never… this isn't something that I did in my world. Ever. Hunters don't fight Ogres."

"You can do this, Rose." Arielle said firmly, watching as Phogoth searched the area they had once been in and snarl as he began to dig in the dead bodies for them. "Listen to me. I had to run like hell to get out of here when I first woke up, every bullet I had went to killing the Knights at the door and then all I could do was run and hide for hours until Vakarian found me a ship. But look at me now, I can run rings in this place, killing the Hive with ease. I'll help you do this and I promise that after you've killed him, you can handle just about anything."

Rose dared to peek out of their cover, watching as the Ogre sniffed and roared, using his claws to try and drag any living thing off the ledges and floor, searching for them, he'd find them sooner or later and then she'd have no choice but to attack.

"You… You're sure you can help me with this?" she asked.

"Can a Hunter bluff at Poker?" Arielle asked and Rose knew that the Warlock was grinning under her helmet. "Trust me."

"Alright." She nodded.

"You've got this." Arielle assured before standing and whistling sharply. "Over here big and ugly!" she yelled and tossed a grenade at the Ogre's back.

Phogoth roared as a burning sensation ripped across his back and turned to focus on the attacking creature below him, charging and firing on them from his bulbous eye, focusing on the brightly burning light that stung to look at.

He wanted to put out that light!

He followed the brightest light as it flowed easily around the blackness around him, ducking and weaving rapidly between the pillars as it shot at him.

Pain ripped through his chest. Enough to make him bellow in agony and search for the course only to be distracted by the bright light in his eye again.

Phogoth roared angrily at them and Arielle laughed as she ran around, shooting at the Ogre only to keep his attention on her while Rose continued to move from place to place to get a better shot at his exposed chest area and firing of the last of her Sniper ammo before emptying her rocket launcher.

"Use your Golden Gun!" Arielle yelled seeing Phogoth stagger and shake. "Hurry!" she encouraged knowing that Rose was going to kill the Hive's monster and not only was it going to boost the Hunter's confidence, but there was no way Phogoth wouldn't have any good drops for her.

Rose took a snatch the Golden Gun from the air and aimed at the exposed heart. "Bye-bye!" She smiled.

"INCOMING!" A familiar voice bellowed as a rocket shot through the door and Rose yelped as she rolled out of the way, taking cover behind a rock as the huge Ogre fell, causing the ground to shake heavily, covering Rose in dust and dirt.

"Rose?" Bing asked and Rose shook her head to clear it, realizing her Super had run dry and she hadn't fired a shot she groaned and came out of her cover and looked at the Ogre. "We didn't do that…" Bing muttered.

"Wha-What was that? Arielle what happened?" Rose demanded in shock.

Arielle growled and Rose's eyes widened in fear as the Warlock's metal gauntlets began to spark as lighting travelled up and down the coils, she took a few steps back only for Arielle to turn to the door with a furious bellow. "ORION!"

"What?" The Titan asked as he stood in the doorway, Vlad was shaking his head behind him.

"You did that?" Rose asked pointing at Phogoth's dead and slowly burning up body.

"Yes… why?" Orion asked before realizing what he had just done. "Oh."

"That was her kill!" Vakarian stated flying right into Orion's helmet covered face. "You stole her Bounty!"

"Why didn't you stop him?" Sovereign asked Vlad as Vakarian verbally assaulted Orion.

"Trying to stop a Titan on a mission, is like trying to stop a tank with a water gun. You do know that right?" Vlad answered walking past Orion and wisely kept his eyes off Arielle as her arms were still crackling with lightning. "Did you do all of this yourself?" he asked inspecting the dead Hive.

"Phogoth killed them, we were killing him before Orion ruined it and I wasted my Golden Gun, now I have to wait even longer to regain it again." Rose sighed, kicking the dirt with her foot, searching for anything where the body had fallen now it was mostly gone and gave a defeated huff. "And he didn't drop anything…" She added.

"Maybe another time?" Bing tried to suggest. "We could come and fight another Ogre."

"There won't _BE_ another." Vakarian growled, then took a moment to calm himself before hovering back to Arielle. "Ogre's don't just come from Wizard wombs like Thrall, they have to be Reborn… And that can take years!" he added with a pointed glare at Orion.

"Oh." Bing said in a defeated fashion. "So… we got nothing after all the work we just did…"

"Maybe not." Wrex said suddenly flickering into view and leading Rose to the stairs at the back of the room, "Look at that, another Golden Chest."

"What's so special about these?" Rose asked, looking at the chest, still hearing Orion pleading with Arielle. "I get that they're gold but why does that make them better that the normal chests?"

"They are said to have rare items or rewards inside them and there are only five of them on each world. Once we empty it somehow they are refilled and move location to a complete new place, making it impossible for people to consecutively go hunting for them." Wrex explained as Rose lifted the lid of the chest and for a moment was blinded by the light inside the chest from the glimmer before Bing scanned and collected it, leaving behind a neatly folded up cloak.

"That's the Brawler's Cloak." Vlad said as she came back up the stairs, carrying the new cloak in her arms. "Rare find." He added.

"Help me put it on?" Rose asked.

"Sure." He nodded and after carefully shaking the new cloak out while Rose removed the ragged remains of what had once likely been a Rustworn cloak that was now more of a scarf, he carefully tugged it over her helmet and moved to check the fabric fell nicely and didn't snag on anything. "Perfect fit." He smiled.

"It feels lighter than the old one." Rose said with a small smile. "Thank you."

"Arielle? Please say something." Orion pleaded, knowing he was in the Dreg house now that Arielle wasn't speaking to him. He could practically feel her yellow glare burning into him behind her helmet. "You didn't say you were leaving or anything and I got worried. Ari? Babe?"

Arielle turned away and marched over to Rose, took hold of her wrist in a firm but none painful hold and pulled her back towards the door.

"I guess this means we are leaving?" Rose asked.

"We are leaving." Arielle nodded, though she sounded angry Rose quickly realized the anger was not aimed at her.

"Talk to me!" Orion pleaded again, following them past the dead and burning Hive corpses they had made on the way in.

Vlad followed silently behind, knowing this was not going to end well if he said anything directly to Arielle so instead he looked to Rose, "You know Rose, sometimes when there isn't room for new stuff, it goes to a subspace compartment in our Ghosts as an Engram, you just have to take your Ghost by a Post Master and they will get the Engrams out for you and then go to a Cryptarch and they decode them for you." He explained.

"Like Master Rahool?" Rose asked, managing to look back towards Vlad who nodded, "Thanks for letting me know." She said before they reached the surface of the Moon.

"Babe please. Just stop a minute!" Orion said taking hold of Arielle's shoulder. "Please!"

Arielle finally responded to him, but not with words, instead she channelled the Lightning down her arms and sent it through Orion's armour, it wouldn't really do him permanent damage, but it would hurt like hell and leave him with some bad burns until Wrex or another Ghost healed him up.

"Ari…" Orion tried to say only to stumble and stutter over his words as the lighting fizzed over his body and made speech difficult. "Alright, I get it. When you're ready to talk, I'll be waiting."

Arielle looked at Sovereign and said. "I'm taking Rose to the Reef. We shall be back later in the evening and then we will be going to bed. My business there is my own." She added and turned away from them again.

"Yes Arielle." The Ghost stated.

"Are you alright?"

The question made Cayde look up from the information Bing had given them.

"I don't understand it… how can our two places be so different? What has gone so wrong for her time that hasn't happened here? Or what did we do that made the difference… I can't think of anything that would have led to this kind of mess here." The Hunter Vanguard stated. "Why is it so different yet, everything seems to be the same."

"No one has the ability to tell us that," Zavala said before Ikora cleared her throat. "Something?" he asked.

"From what I can find, we may have a way of finding why things are so different." Ikora nodded, "The Vex are the only race we know that can time travel. If we could get into their network we might find out what has caused all this mess for Rose and how she came to be in our time." She stated.

"Who shall we send?" Cayde asked.

"I've already sent a signal to the fireteam I think has the best chance of getting in there." Ikora stated with a smile.

"Are you still angry with Orion?" Rose asked as they flew past Venus. Arielle hadn't spoken since they left the Moon and while the lightning had at last stopped crackling down her arms, Arielle still seemed tense with anger.

"I'm furious with him." Arielle said firmly and Rose could hear the fury in her voice. "Really, what does it take to get it through his head that I can look after myself? I managed just fine without anyone's help getting off the Moon and getting Bounties done before I met him." She growled out.

"But he does mean well, and really it's not his fault." Vakarian said and Arielle's shoulders slumped softly.

"Even if he is hard-headed, stubborn, brash, forgetful, un-ow! What was that for?!" Wrex demanded after Vakarian had all but rammed him.

"Shush!" the blue and tan Ghost hissed. "You are not helping."

"It's alright, Vakarian." Arielle sighed. "Orion is all of those things, but Traveler knows I love him." She admitted.

"Have you told him that?" Rose asked.

Arielle shook her head. "He knows I love him, even with our stupid arguments. I love him even when he's an idiot that steals my kills, I just want him to control himself better. Sometimes I think we need to spend some time apart, not a separation, but a few days for me to just run my own bounties and then come back to the team, but that's the coward's way out. I tried that once before and it didn't exactly work out."

"Honestly, you two seem to make a great pair, even with the arguments you have. I mean everyone fights sometimes, but as long as neither of you ever say something to deliberately hurt each other, does it really matter if you don't always say 'I love you' to each other?" Rose asked, "And everyone needs to be away from people sometimes, Hunters get that more than anyone, but we also know that no one person can win a war. We just have to find that balance between being together and being alone."

"I understand that and I know Orion does too," Arielle explained, "The trouble is I don't want or need to be pampered, but Orion is trying so hard to prove that he can take care of me financially and I don't need that. I earn my own glimmer just like he does, I don't need a provider. I need a partner, an equal." She stated. "I'm a Stormcaller, one of the most powerful Warlocks of my time, I could go toe to toe with Ikora Ray herself and still come out ready to fight a horde of Hive Knights."

"I don't mean to pry or stick my nose where it doesn't belong, Arielle but did you ever think Orion isn't trying to pamper you so much as prove himself?" Rose said, thinking about what she'd been told so far, "You said you had a relationship before, maybe that person in Orion's eyes was better than him in some way and that is the person Orion is trying to prove himself too? To prove that he can give you the same kind of support that person did before?" She suggested.

"He doesn't need to prove himself to anyone." Arielle said firmly, a small crack of lighting dancing down her arm again. "I left that relationship because I didn't like the life that person was trying to give me, on top of his making decisions for me. Orion shouldn't have to prove to anyone that he can support me. I support myself."

"Maybe in your mind he doesn't need to prove himself," Rose said with a small smile, "But J-Cey told me he spent weeks raising the glimmer to get Ace the best armour from Cayde's stash to prove to a Titan he could make Ace happy and keep her safe. Sometimes men just need to do something to prove to another man they can be just as good a partner to a woman, even if it means that they have to work harder to do it." She added.

"It's like in stories when a rich king or prince offers a lady everything she could want in an attempt to buy her love only to lose out to the humble guardsman or handsome farm boy who can't offer the lady a castle or riches, but can give her all his love honestly without having to think twice about everything." Bing chimed in.

Arielle couldn't help but laugh at that, confusing Rose for a moment before she realized it was a true heart felt laugh.

"You have no idea how close to the truth that is, Bing." Arielle smiled after she regained some control of herself looking back at the two of them with a genuinely relieved and happy smile. "Thank you, I think I needed to hear that from someone who hasn't known us for as long as Vlad." She added.

"You're welcome… I guess…" Rose said with a small smile.

"Oh! Rose look! The Reef!" Bing said suddenly as he looked out of the window of the ship. "Oh!"

Rose looked out of the window and smiled brightly, like a child in a sweet shop. "It's so beautiful…"

"Even in this state?" Arielle asked curiously thought she couldn't deny it was a beautiful to see.

Rose gave her a look as if to say 'are you serious?'. "I didn't get to see the Reef before it was destroyed in my time, so yes, it is beautiful." She said.

Arielle smiled, "The Queen will be pleased to hear that if she chooses to speak with you."

"I don't mind if she doesn't speak to me, just knowing she is still in good health here is enough." Rose assured.

Arielle smirked as two ships appeared on her screen, "Here we go." She said as two Awoken ships began to flag them, "Before you give me bullshit about being in your air space, look at my ship and consider your next words carefully."

The comms went silent before anyone could speak and Vakarian chuckled at Rose's confused look. "Arielle is well known on the Reef." He explained.

"Oh."

 _~ "State your business here, Arielle." ~_ A firm voice said and Rose caught the tense undertone to the voice.

Arielle said. "I'm bringing a friend to the Reef for some training and to see if Variks has anything new in the Prison, I need to kill something big."

 _~ "Follow our path, the Outpost has moved since your last visit Arielle." ~_

"Moved?" Arielle asked but the Awoken pilot didn't answer. "Why would the Outpost move?" she added more to herself.

Rose looked out the window again, now searching for anything that she might recognize in the ruins of the Reef while Bing did the same at the opposite side of the cockpit, scanning for everything and anything that could be a danger. They saw nothing, but the silence that hung over them as they flew to wards the outpost made Arielle sure that something bad had happened and that something may be connected to Rose.

The Vestian Outpost had indeed moved, it was now hidden deeper in the Reef, shrouded in the ruins of asteroids and destroyed ships, though some damages looked fairly new to Arielle.

"What happened here?" Arielle asked.

 _~ "We are still trying to work that out for ourselves." ~_ A voice stated and Rose realized after a moment that it was none other than the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov.

"Your Grace." Arielle said respectfully.

 _~ "Come to me when you have landed your ship and greeted your fellow Awoken. I wish to speak with you. Privately." ~_ The Queen said, _~ "You may bring your ball, however, your friend must remain outside." ~_

Arielle looked at Rose who nodded. "I'll be ok." She said.

"As you wish, Your Grace." Arielle said as the ship was slowly pulled into the Outpost and lowered her ship into a vacant space. "Welcome to the Reef."

"How long has he been down there?" Amanda Holiday asked, watching Orion doing push ups with three times the weights he normally used for such an exercise.

"About three hours." Vlad sighed. "And he's still angry with himself."

"Should we stop him or take bets to see when he stops?" the ship master asked.

"He needs to get it out of his system first." The Exo Hunter said, "He really upset Arielle."

"Oh boy." The blond sighed.

"Yea." Vlad huffed, taking a sip of his oil drink. "She said she'd be back later this evening."

"And that means Orion will be like this for the rest of the night. Great." Holiday huffed. "I have to work around him."

"I'm sure he'll make it up to you with a new tool kit," Vlad smiled.

"He'd better." The blond said but there was no real anger in her voice.

Arielle had been greeted with nods and waves from many Awoken on the outpost, and even a polite nod from Brother Vance while showing Rose to the Postmaster and helping to get the engrams from inside Bing for decoding.

"I didn't even know I'd picked them up." Bing admitted.

"Few Ghosts do, we only realize it when we get close to a Cryptarch, I swear they have a nose for engrams." Vakarian said.

"So nice to see you again Vakarian." A voice stated and the blue and tan ghost swiftly ducked behind Arielle's head. "Arielle."

"Master Ives." Arielle smiled, "could you decode these for us? We'll be needing them when I get back."

"I will certainly take a look and see what I can do for you," Master Ives said and carefully set about inspecting and checking the engrams.

"Well, look who's come back from the Tower." A familiar voice called and Rose was glad she was wearing her helmet to hide the relief on her face. This time's Petra still looked like she had the passion to fight and the will to live, heck she all but radiated the aura of a warrior. "Come for some real fun Arielle?"

"Maybe another time Petra, I need to go see the Queen and then I'll come back and talk more." Arielle assured. "Speaking of which, could you watch these three for me while I'm busy, Rose here is still tagging along with me until we get her a new ship."

"I'll watch her." Patra smiled. "Just don't be gone too long, I might set her to work."

"I don't doubt that," Arielle chuckled. "Wrex, stay with Rose and don't argue with Variks." She added while poking a harmless finger against Wrex's eye. "I am not saving you if he tries to turn you into scrap."

"I'll ignore him if he leaves me alone." Wrex stated with an amused chuckle and if Ghosts have faces, Arielle knew that Wrex would not only be smirking, but he'd also be showing off teeth as well.

"Alright." Arielle said and then looked at Rose. "If he starts any trouble, shake him."

"Got it." Rose nodded watching Arielle head off toward where she guessed the Queen would be, then reached back and grabbed Wrex before he could float off. "No."

"Aw come on, I wasn't going to make trouble." The Ghost stated, even though he had been floating towards Variks.

"I'll believe that when the Fallen pack up and leave Earth." Rose said.

"You've been with Arielle too long." Wrex stated in defeat.

Rose smiled.

Meanwhile Arielle made her way to the familiar throne room and smiled to herself as she realized the only other person who could piss her off more than Orion was mercifully absent from his usual place before the throne.

"My brother is away in the Reef, searching for the creatures that attacked us." The Awoken Queen stated. "No need to worry about him showing up, Arielle."

Arielle bowed, "It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Grace. You honour me with your presence."

Mara Sov's blue eyes were glowing brightly as they focused intently on Arielle, the corners of her lips quirked up slightly. Arielle would not take the bait. Instead she replied, "I am pleased to know that you are well, even your little ball."

Vakarian huffed silently but said nothing, the only sign of his annoyance was the way he shifted his shell.

"I didn't think Your Grace would be very interested in my life anymore." Arielle replied truthfully.

Mara Sov's eyes narrowed, "I give my friendship to whom I wish, and I did extend the right for you to call me by my name."

Arielle's yellow eyes widened in pleasant surprise, "That you did, Mara. What can I do for you?"

"Always straight to the point, Ari, I admire that." The Queen stated as she crossed one leg over the other, "My people have found some very interesting information from some Vex, taken from them by force."

The Warlock nodded, "The Vex don't share their secrets with outsiders."

"Something that wasn't Vex travelled through time, but it wasn't alone. Tai Ravens attack my people, they attacked the Outpost, Arielle and I was forced to move it for protection. Prince Uldren and his Crows hunt down any remaining creatures in the depths of the Reef." Glowing blue eyes met yellow, "What do you know about the Hunter that travels with you?"

Arielle would've tensed if Uldren himself had been in the room. He had a way of looking right through her that Mara didn't; Mara didn't need to because Arielle would never lie to her. For Rose's sake, Arielle considered playing dumb, but that was insulting to both women, so she opted for the truth.

"Rose and her Ghost Bing somehow travelled through time and ended up stranded in the Vault of Glass. Rose was injured and out of ammo, she would've died had my team and I not been there. We aren't sure if she really is from a different time or just a parallel universe, only the Vex would know that. What we do know is that her world is dark, almost hopeless and many of the people we are familiar with are dead or entirely different, almost unrecognizable." Arielle explained.

"We have what little information Bing had at his disposal, he shared it with the Vanguard." Vakarian added.

Mara turned her attention onto Vakarian, "Report your findings to Variks, little ball."

"I don't take orders from you, Your Grace." Vakarian growled, though it was still a rather polite refusal.

"It's alright Vakarian. I was planning on sharing what we knew anyway. Ikora wouldn't have a problem with it." Arielle soothed.

Vakarian looked at her and his shell twisted, "If you say so Ari." The Ghost floated away to do as the Queen ordered.

Mara stood, "Your courtship with Uldren ended years ago and not once have you visited your home."

"I wasn't sure I was welcome, Mara. I was angry with you and Uldren, I was surprised you let me leave."

"You went through all the proper channels to leave the Reef and my service. I could not deny your request when you had followed all of my rules." Mara replied. The Awoken Queen gestured for Arielle to come closer and the Warlock obeyed, but didn't walk all the way up to the throne. Mara Sov narrowed her gaze but said nothing as she made the decision to step closer to her old friend. "If I were anyone else, I might hug you."

"Hugs aren't your thing, Mara." Arielle replied dryly.

"I've wondered if I had not interfered in your relationship if you'd still call the Reef home. Would you have remained with Uldren had we not plotted behind your back?" Mara inquired.

Arielle was silent for a moment, her expression thoughtful, before she replied, "I've thought about that over the last few years, and I've come to the conclusion that I would've left at some point. I'm far too restless to stay in one place, too wild to be a Warlock as Cayde would say. The only reason I stayed so long was that I didn't know I could leave, or that I would want to." The Warlock sighed, "The end of my relationship with Uldren can't be blamed upon the one action that made me leave. We had problems before, Mara, but we swept them aside, claiming to deal with them at a more convenient time, but that's not how relationships work. If we were to have lasted as a couple, we would've needed to work on those issues as they came up. We ran out of time, Mara, and the plotting my life for me behind my back was the last straw. I am no one's pawn."

The Queen's gaze drifted to Arielle's gauntlets as lightning travelled up and down the coils. "You are right, we treated you as a pawn, but do you understand the circumstances? There is Darkness coming, Ari, Eris has seen it, and Ikora knows it. As one of her Warlocks, even you know it. I needed to know that you would step up and there is no one I trust more than you in that position, so yes, I made you a pawn for the betterment of my people."

"You could've asked me." Arielle stated.

"You would not have agreed, and Mara Sov does not beg."

"Then I would've wanted you to respect my decision and allow me to help you come up with a different plan." Arielle countered.

Mara's gaze met Arielle's, "You no longer belong to Reef as you once did, yet now, with a new Guardian in tow, you return home. Why?"

"I can be self-serving, Mara. I want to hunt in the Prison. I have avoided my home for too long, and the Awoken do not run." Arielle paused, "While I may not have called the Reef home for the last few years, I am loyal to it and its Queen. Despite what may have happened between us. If Darkness is coming to our part of space, then I must let my Queen know that the Vanguard stand with the Awoken and should my Queen need me, I am her sword."

Arielle watched as Mara's glowing eyes softened slightly, "You pledge to re-enter my service?"

"I pledge that should my Queen need me, I shall happily answer her call to arms and bring the wrath of my fireteam with me, on the condition that the Prince is not allowed to order my team around." Arielle corrected.

"Uldren knows better than to try and order you around. It never got him anywhere in the first place, and you always did as you wanted, rarely as you were told."

"Unless it coincided with what I already planned on doing." Arielle added with a smirk.

"You have been missed on the Reef, Ari, but you know this." Mara stated as she returned to her throne, "Uldren still misses you, though he would rather not speak of it."

"What Uldren and I had is long gone, but I still care. He was…..a friend when he wanted to be."

"Your hesitation explains it all. Uldren does not know how to have friends, only subjects. You were the only exception, Ari. We both keep an eye on you and your fireteam, especially your Titan. I was surprised to find that you'd started dating him. You are happy, I hope?"

"Are you asking as my Queen or as my friend?" Arielle asked.

"Both."

"I am very happy with Orion." Arielle stated in a tone that Mara recognized to mean the end of her discussion on the subject.

"I have no intention of interfering in your relationship with the Titan. You no longer belong to the Reef, you've made that very clear. And we know better to try and control you. That is what caused you to leave in the first place." Mara paused before continuing, "I did not believe that you would react as you did when you discovered what Uldren and I had done. I allowed myself to believe that your relationship with the Prince and the friendship you and I share would encourage you to go along with my plan. Instead, you left us, and I have regretted that decision for years."

Arielle's eyes softened, "I know. Had I been anyone else, those two things would've made me agree."

"Then I am glad that you are as strong willed as you are." The Queen admitted.

Arielle bowed, "Is that all you needed from me, Your Grace?"

Mara Sov nodded, "You have my permission to enter the Reef as you please, enjoy battle in the Prison and take bounties from Petra. I accept your offer to be my sword once more, and I look forward to seeing you fight for your Queen. Welcome home, Ari."

"Thank you Mara." Arielle turned and headed for the door but the Queen's voice stopped her, "You would make an excellent Queen."

The Warlock paused, "I could never replace you." She said and continued out the door.

Variks watched, feeling something akin to amusement, as the little Ghost that had accompanied the Hunter hovered above Petra's Bounty Board, listening carefully to what Petra was telling him about her time as a field agent for the Queen, even going as far as to hush the larger Ghost when he tried to interrupt.

The Hunter sat nearby, listening quietly while continuing to ensure Wrex didn't come toward him, despite the apparent stealth the larger Ghost had picked up from Arielle. After watching the Ghost be caught again, the Fallen Vender gave the Ghost a knowing look before turning his attention to his own work.

He looked up again when Wrex gave a startled yelp and saw the Hunter had remove her helmet at last and used it as a means to trap Wrex.

"Don't think I won't tie you in my cloak, Wrex." The hunter warned and Petra laughed.

"Arielle's been teaching you how to keep him out of trouble I see." The Huntress stated.

"Variks." A slightly sharp voice cut through the air and Variks lifted his head, watching as Arielle's Ghost hovered before him.

"Ghost. Vakarian." He greeted evenly and the two simply looked at each other, Vakarian's Shell twitching from time to time while Variks grips on his staff, neither talking for a time.

"What's with them?" Rose asked Petra, spotting Vakarian hovering near Variks.

"Vakarian and Variks have a long standing history of staring contests." Petra explained with a knowing chuckle, "You can never tell who will win."

"You have something for me?" Variks asked, though he didn't take his eyes off the Ghost as Vakarian floated down so he was more level with the Fallen.

"I need an access link to your systems, then I'll send you the data the Queen has asked me to share with you on Arielle's behalf." Vakarian explained, shell still twitching but his blue eye never leaving Variks' green ones.

"Ah, then you have come with gifts." Variks chuckled, knowing that Vakarian was uncomfortable around him.

"Hurt me and Arielle will skin you." Vakarian reminded and Variks barked out a partly growled laugh.

"Arielle has not been home for a very long time, what makes you think she has not lost her edge?" the Fallen asked.

"Oh he's gonna regret that." Wrex said.

"What?" Rose asked. "What do you mean?"

"Have you been told about the Prison of Elders?" Petra asked and Rose shook her head. "Variks was given permission by the Queen to keep some of the bounties that are caught by the Crows or brought in by our Scouts. He lets some Guardians go into the Prison as a sort of Challenge for them but even to this day, Arielle holds the most kills on the board and while she has been gone a few years, she's not one to slip."

"I'd noticed," Rose said, "She took me to the Moon before we came here and took on a Fallen squadron alone."

"That's the Arielle I know. You should've heard about what she did when the House of Wolves betrayed us a few years back, when Arielle was still the Queen's Sword." Petra chuckled. "Those are the best stories."

Rose nodded but said nothing however, Petra noticed the little Ghost also seemed to grow sombre at the mention of the Wolves but before she could ask, she was cut off.

"Variks, stop tormenting my Ghost and give him the data link." Arielle's voice called before Arielle herself came from the Queen's Chamber. "And then give me a Prison key."

"You wish to fight today?" Variks asked while one hand held out a data cable to Vakarian and now with the safety of Arielle to watch his back, the Ghost settled on a nearby crate and began the simple download process. The scribe's eyes hadn't left Arielle, clearly interested in the fact that she wanted to play in the Prison.

"Key. Now." Arielle said again and Variks shook his head. "Variks."

"Prison already in use." Variks explained, and brought up a screen showing the many levels of the Prison that were already serving as an arena for the Guardians already visiting the Reef, or areas that were being cleared for the next round. "I have no keys to offer you. Yet."

"Then the minute someone hands a key back hand it over." Arielle said. "Rose, go get our stuff from Master Ives then get over here, we're going for a killing spree."

"Do they have Hive in there, I'm still down one kill for that bounty." Rose asked heading for Master Ives with Bing and Wrex.

"It will." Arielle assured.

"Hello stranger." A new voice asked and the Warlock turned at the voice in time to see another Awoken female Warlock approaching her in the company of a Awoken male Warlock and a Exo Hunter. "Been a while Arielle."

The female wore an almost navy blue coat over her armour, with hems and trimmings of gold and black over white leg armour, at first glance many might think this new comer a weakling, she stood a head shorter than Arielle and she did not carry herself with the same powerful aura.

Those people were fools. For this Warlock had not only mastered her ability as a Sunsinger, but she had also mastered her ability as a Voidwalker, making her a deadly opponent and it was whispered that she was studying the ways of the Stormcallers as well.

"Hello Lindor," Arielle smiled, offering her hand to her fellow Warlock. "I trust you have a key for me?"

"You're going through the Prison alone?" Lindor asked.

"Not this time, I'm taking a new friend through for a test drive." Arielle smiled nodding towards where Rose was waiting on the last engram to be decoded.

"With her light level so low? Are you sure is it wise?" the Hunter with Lindor asked, his armour was covered in camouflage patches.

"She's been with me all day, Zaragosa-40. She can handle the Prison." Arielle assured, "She's handled far worse where she is from."

"Hand over our winnings Variks, Ikora wants us to go to Venus before we head home and we have no time for your jokes." The last of Lindor's fireteam stated, his white coat and armour seeming to have lost its clean look in the prison.

"Return my Key and you may have your rewards." Variks said and took the Prison key from Lindor while offering each member of her Fire team a new weapon from his armoury.

"Terrik, why does Ikora want you on Venus?" Arielle asked the Warlock.

"She said it was to do with a new Hunter." Lindor said glancing towards Rose. "I'll keep you informed." She assured before heading off. "Have fun in the Prison."

"Thank you." Arielle nodded as Rose retrieved the last of the decoded Engrams. "Good luck!" She called after them.

"How about a deal, Arielle?" Petra asked as she approached.

"What kind of deal?" Arielle asked. "Because really you have nothing I can use."

"Maybe not, but you mentioned your friend has no ship." Petra recalled. "If she survives the Prison, I'm sure I have a ship she'd be interested in." she added.

"Sounds like a deal to me." Arielle smiled. "Hey Rose, what do you think, survive the Prison and Petra will give you a new ship." She called.

"Really?" Rose asked smiling. "I can do that."

"Interesting." Variks hissed as Vakarian disconnected from the cable and took his place beside Arielle. "Very interesting. Indeed." He stated. "Her scent, is dark."

"She's come from a place where darkness is much stronger and where many things are gone or in ruin." Arielle nodded. "As for her scent, I won't know what a normal Guardian smells like to you." She added.

"Not like her. Your scent is clean, hints of the Reef and of the Tower. Of places you have visited recently. Hers is heavy with dirt, death and rot." Variks explained in the only way he knew how. "Hunter is not as weak as her Light portrays."

"Key." Arielle said, in a dark tone and Variks growled in his native tongue while handing her the Key he had just received. "Thank you. Come on Rose."

"Coming." Rose said following Arielle.

"Hmmmm…" Variks said. "Very interesting."

Eris was concerned.

She would usually break the silence with a greeting to Guardians who passed her, but for the last few hours she had been silent, it seemed she was looking at nothing.

Ikora knew better.

Eris was looking into the shadows, searching them for what may be hiding within.

The fact she was holding her orb close to her chest made Ikora certain whatever it was that worried the tormented former Guardian, it was not something small.

"Ikora."

The Warlock Vanguard looked back to her fellow Vanguard at her name. "Yes Zavala?"

"I asked if there has been any word from your team on Venus." Zavala repeated himself while Cayde compared reports from his Hunters and transferred the information to their own files.

"Not yet, but I have faith they will return with the information we need." Ikora said.

"They may not have everything." Eris said, at last breaking her silence.

"What do you mean?" Cayde asked just as Wiccan gave a noticeable shudder in her shell.

"Incoming reports from the fireteam on Vault of Glass, Ikora and they aren't pretty." She explained.

"I will call a gathering." Zavala said.

Eris nodded and then spared a glance at Ikora who nodded and excused herself for a moment, once the two were back in Eris's corner, Eris began to pet her orb, an action that soothed her when she had been unnerved when she'd been in the shadows.

"What have you seen?" Ikora asked.

"Rose was not the only creature to come from her time." Eris explained, "There is a dark shadow in the Reef and more are arriving." She explained, looking at Ikora. "We need to speak again with Rose. And this time, we may need to be more direct with our questions. Even if it means we must be forceful."

"I understand." Ikora said.

"So this is the Reef's answer to the Crucible and Iron Banner?" Rose asked, ducking behind cover for a second to reload before firing on the straggling Thrall they were fighting. "How does Variks keep this place going if you kill everything as you go?" she added jumping onto a higher ledge and taking down a few more Thrall before there was a slight pause in battle.

"I never cared to ask, I was usually too busy killing things." Arielle admitted taking the brief pause as a chance to reload her weapons, "There are enough Thrall here that they've probably already started reproducing in the Prison but that sounds gross." The Warlock made a face, "He should let us have something big now. I hope you have spare ammo?"

"I got six rockets and about two dozen clips of Scout rifle and Sniper ammo." Rose nodded.

"Nice." Arielle smiled. "Here comes the real fun." She added as the room began to shake.

 _~"Something new for you Guardians."~_ Variks stated over the comms. _~"This one captured by Prince's Crows,"~_ he added. _~"Something we did not have in Prison. Until now."~_

"Why do I suddenly feel worried?" Rose asked.

"Because Variks is a sneaky bastard who likes to put the most deadly things in here for us." Arielle answered, "Remember what I told you?"

"Keep moving and never let Variks's annoying commentary distract you." Rose smiled.

"Good girl." The Warlock smirked feeling the ground shake with the heavy steps of their opponent. "Hive Knight." She said.

 _~ "Sardon! Fist of Crota!" ~_ Variks announced as the once mighty Golden skinned Hive Knight came into view, his once right armour dull and beaten as he scanned the area, searching for the two of them. _~ "Impress me Guardians. And the rewards shall be grand." ~_

"I'll show you impressive you bastard!" Arielle yelled before opening fire on the Knight. "How did this fucker survive!?"

"Survive?" Rose asked, "You've fought him before?" She added scrambling up a ledge and began to fire from her scout rifle on Sardon, getting his attention away from Arielle. "Over here Shiny!"

"We all did. Orion and Vlad drove him and several others back from Saturn alongside the Vanguard and the Awoken nine years ago… We though this fucker died after taking a direct hit from the Queen and Ikora at once." Arielle explained making a break for new cover and fired a rocket at the Knight to give Rose time to reload. "Eris couldn't find him in the shadows anymore."

Sardon roared and hissed savagely as he swung his sword up and charged after Arielle and missed her by mere inches as she jumped for a higher ledge, glaring eyes following her until something seemed to catch his eye and he looked right at Rose in time to have a rocket fired at his face causing him to stagger and snarled searching again for the dimmer of the two Lights he'd seen and knew were still in the area.

"Maybe… maybe he's not from here?" Rose asked firing a sniper round at Sardon's head.

"What do you mean?" Arielle asked.

"He's bigger than Knights we saw on the Moon." Rose said then yelped as her cloak was snagged. "Shit!"

"Move it Rose, he's seen you!" Arielle yelled in warning as she fired on Sardon trying to keep his attention on her, watching as the bullets seemed to bounce off the Hive Knight as Rose yanked her cloak free and rushed for cover as Sardon charged her bringing his mighty sword down inches from where she had been, only to find she was backed into a corner. "Rose!?"

Sardon growled and hissed, looking up to where the dimmer light stood, preparing to run it through with his sword before it suddenly got brighter and became blinding.

"Go away!" Rose yelled cutting and slicing at Sardon's face with two knifes she'd seemingly found in thin air, watching his rear backwards clutching his face as she slide under him and rolled safely out of the way as the Knight fall backwards heavily collapsing onto the ground.

"Rose? You alright?"

"Yea… I think so…" Rose answered as the blue aura around her faded. "Wh-why am I-I shak-shaking?"

"Adrenalin rush." Arielle suggested with a chuckle, "Happens when you first use your Arc ability."

"That was Blade Dancing?" Rose asked twitching somewhat. "Oh… tingly and ticklish." She giggled, "Wow… I feel light as a feather…"

 _~ "You look like you went toe to toe with a Stormcaller." ~_ Petra stated over the comm link. _~ "Get out here so I can congratulate you and give you your new ship. I think the Ceres Galliot will suit you nicely." ~_

"Ok… Um... Where is the door?" Rose asked, twitching still and staggering a little as she looked around. "Oh, I feel dizzy. What's a Ceres Galliot?

Arielle chuckled and took Rose by the arm and lead her out of the Prison. "The Ceres Galliot looks like my ship, the Hildian Seeker. It's an Awoken ship. Come on, let's get you out of here."

Vlad woke to the sharp and single knock at his door.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Cayde wants you in the Vanguard chambers. Now." one of his fellow Hunters stated. "Orion has already been called, Arielle is being recalled as we speak."

"Very well." Vlad said, "Come on Sovereign."

"Too early…" Sovereign stated sluggishly as he floated from his place on the shelf.

"Prince Uldren." He turned at his name, watching as the guard gave a polite nod and handed him a small data chip. "The Queen requests your immediate presence in the Throne room." Her tone was quiet, but her words had been direct and to the point.

Likely she had seen the anger on his face, or his sister had been just as direct in having her relay the order.

"Deal with this corpse and ensure it is burned." He stated as he strode out of the docks.

"Yes sir."

Tai Ravens.

He despised them almost as much as he despised the Fallen. He had worked hard to keep the Reef free of the Ravens for years, training for hours on end with his Crows, ensuring that they themselves were the best, and using his lessons to plan defences against the Ravens and their attacks.

And yet somehow, one had gotten past his defences.

It had broken through with seeming practiced ease and had come within inches of the Queen's personal Quarters. Had his sister been in there, had she been sleeping in that chamber and not in deep meditation with him-it did not bear thinking about.

"The Raven?" her voice brought him from his thoughts and he allowed himself but a second to thank whatever higher power had spared his sister before he straightened his back and shoulders as he came around the throne and knelt before her.

"Dead. And soon it will burn. Its ashes will keep others of its kind away." He assured. "They have fled beyond our reaches."

She made a soft humming sound and then looked towards the data feed in her hand. "Do not burn it yet." She said, "There is a question I wish to ask but for an honest and truthful answer the Raven is needed."

He blinked in confusion, "I do not understand."

"There is a new Awoken Hunter here, the one the Vex tell us about. Perhaps she can tell us how this Raven and its flock so easily broke your defences." She stated.

"The Hunter came here?" He asked, "Why?"

"Arielle brought her."

Arielle. He tensed at the sound of her name. The only other soul in the universe he cared about at least half as much as his Queen.

"She has returned?" he asked.

"She does not seek you." His sister stated. "And she is no longer ours. She is teaching this Hunter and she is soon to leave to speak with the Vanguard."

"I see." He paused, "Is she still here?"

"Petra is gifting the Hunter a new ship as her winnings for surviving the Prison." The Queen explained.

His yellow eyes darted to the door, wondering if it was worth catching a glimpse of the blue haired Warlock. She'd left him and the Reef far behind, but now she was back and he had been content with the knowledge that she lived on the Tower, that she was still a force that destroyed the Awoken's enemies, be they Hive, Fallen, or Vex; even if it was in the name of the Traveler and not the Queen.

If Arielle was back, had she promised her wrath to be the Queen's? Had she returned to her position as Mara Sov's sword?

"Go and see her Uldren, but do not hope for too much." She stated, focusing on her data feed, feeling him slowly moving away from her and head towards the door. Her voice drifted after him, "She now longer belongs solely to the Reef; and she was only yours as long as she allowed herself to be."

"I understand."

A lie.

He hadn't understood why she had left, he couldn't see the problem with what had been done or said.

Then again, he had never seen anyone as anything more than a subject, a pawn to the will of his Queen.

He had loved her. She was the only woman beside his Queen who could challenge him, and there had been a fair few times Arielle had not only proven him wrong, but she'd also improved his plans.

But somewhere along the way, things had become...problematic-no flawed?

He couldn't think of the right word for what had happened to their bond, all he knew was that she had stormed in during a private meeting between him and the Queen and the Warlock had been so angry that her whole body had been alive with electricity and lightning as she unleashed verbal hell upon him and then turned and held a silent war with his Queen.

She had not spoken to the Queen in that entire argument, only held her gaze, burning yellow against cold blue until at last, Arielle had regained control of her lightning and left the throne room.

He had seen Arielle be angry, had seen her take her rage out against the House of Wolves when they turned on the Queen, even he had been a recipient of her anger, but never had he seen the righteous fury directed at him like that before. Her eyes from that day haunted him, glowing yellow in anger and rage as electricity cackled at her fingertips; there had been hurt in those eyes that day.

The next few days were a blur, but he remembered searching for her everywhere, but no one could tell him where she'd gone off to. Eventually he figured out that she was simply avoiding him, but everyone else was avoiding her for fear of her fury. The next thing he knew, Arielle was gone. Her room empty save the Reef weapons she had once used as her own and a note for Variks telling him that if someone beat her score in the Prison she was to be informed instantly and a small amount of Glimmer for Petra to clear an outstanding debt.

The next he'd heard of Arielle, had come from the Queen's Hidden friend among the Guardians. Eris Morn had told the Queen that Arielle had gone into the Hive alongside a Hunter and a Titan to free the Traveler from some kind of poisoning and then she had gone on with that same fireteam to slay Crota, the Hive God.

That battle had brought them together again in a final push to drive the Hive God and his Generals away, without them, the Hive forces were lost and for a time, though Uldren would never admit it, the Vanguard and the Reef had been a near perfect united force, Titans and Awoken soldiers pushing forwards before bringing up their shields to allow the Warlocks to unleashed all hell from above, Hunters taking out stragglers.

That had been how he found out about Orion, the Titan Arielle had become so close to. There was still an oddly painful sting in his chest as he thought about that.

"We can really have this?" A Ghost exclaimed ahead of him and the Prince looked up to see a small dull Ghost hovering around and scanning the Ceres Galliot, "You're sure? It looks so pretty and special, like something the Queen should have."

"The Queen has her own ship, besides I promised you a ship if you survived the Prison of Elders, which you not only did but also defeated Sardon." Petra stated looking at the Hunter, who shuffled her feet a little.

"I had help." She admitted, ducking as her hair was ruffled in a friendly manner by the Warlock beside her.

"Hey, all I did was take pot shots, you did the killing." Arielle smiled.

"You shot his head." The Hunter said.

"Not the eyes." Arielle reminded, "So, what do you think? Like her?" she asked looking at the ship.

"She's pretty!" the Ghost called, "Oh! Rose she has leather seats."

"Such an excitable little ball of Light." Petra smiled.

"He's a big kid inside." The Hunter smiled, Rose, if the Ghost was to be believed. "And he is right, she is a beautiful ship. Are you really sure its ok?" she asked, repeating the Ghost's question.

"Yes and trust me, no ship combines speed and versatility better than the Ceres Galliot. Her turns are smooth without losing speed. She'll carry you safely through space." Petra assured.

"Thank you." Rose grinned in excitement.

"Well, we better get back to the Tower, Ikora says it's urgent." Arielle said.

"Can we race? Please? Please, please, please?" the Ghost asked.

"Maybe another time, Bing," Rose smiled. "Time to go."

"Ok. Thank you again Petra." Bing stated before disappearing into the ship.

"Cute thing." Petra chuckled.

"Don't let him hear you, he hates being called cute." Rose chuckled. "Thank you. For the ship and the stories, he appreciates all of them." She added.

"Let's go Rose." Arielle called and Rose nodded, fading into her new ship.

Arielle turned and for a moment, their eyes met, but just as soon as she saw him, she faded into her own ship without so much as a smile or a nod at him.

He told himself it didn't hurt.

It didn't hurt watching her leave again.

It didn't.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter three.

The Last Light.

There was something different.

Something in this world was not like they knew it to be. The way that they had made it through years of careful planning and plotting, keeping the Guardians at distance and watching them through their hidden agents.

They would have to change that.

"Seek out this difference. Study it, watch it and if it proves to become a problem for our plans, remove it by any means."

"Understood."

"This ship is awesome!" Bing chimed happily, "So much space and so clean and shiny! Can I have a new shell like this? Please?"

"It's a ship, Bing not a Ghost Shell." Rose chuckled. "But it is pretty awesome," she added following Arielle's flight path. "So, is the Reef always like that? It seems pretty empty to me until we got to the Prison."

 _~ "The Queen hates too many people in one place, too easy for an attack to wipe them out, only her finest and most loyal are allowed to stay with her constantly," ~_ Arielle explained.

 _~ "So why is Variks there?" ~_ Vakarian asked.

"Because he is loyal to her and he will fight for her." Rose stated. "The Variks in my world defended the ship the Queen used to escape with Petra and the Queens Guard until Prince Uldren ordered them off the Reef and as far away from danger as they could get."

 _~ "And because Variks has other uses." ~_ Arielle added. _~ "No one else can tell us what the Fallen are saying on Comms, and he helps with hunts." ~_

 _~ "Still don't trust him." ~_ Wrex stated. _~ "He's only loyal so long as the Queen offers him safety and allows the House Judgement Banner to live on, if she ever throws him out, he'll turn on her." ~_

"The Queen needs someone who speaks Fallen. How else would she know if her prisoners are plotting to over throw her without him?" Rose said.

 _~ "She has a point, now hush. We're almost home." ~_ Arielle stated as they reached the Last City.

Bing looked out of the window and clicked a little. "It looks so bright even when it's getting dark." He said, noticing the white light given off by the Traveler that bathed the City in bright and calm light.

Rose smiled and looked at the Traveler and the City below it, "It's safe here, that's why." She said.

 _~ "You better hurry and get in here." ~_ Vlad stated over their comm links. _~ "Things are getting very heavy," ~_ he added.

"Are we in trouble?" Rose asked.

 _~ "No, but with the report Lindor and her team gave, I don't think you'll be getting such a nice reception for the Vanguard this time, Zavala mentioned that they need more information from you and Eris is pacing in her corner." ~_ Vlad stated. _~ "Be ready for a tough ride." ~_

"Alright." Rose nodded as they pulled into the docks.

It was quiet in the docks, save a few late working drones, likely Holiday was in bed at this hour or busy elsewhere and so they left the dock without incident, passing where Master Rahool should have been only to find him missing.

"This isn't good." Arielle said.

"Where is everyone?" Rose asked.

"Inside." Arielle nodded towards the doors, the only source of light on the usually bright plaza. "Zavala must have called a gathering, everyone from Master Rahool to the Speaker will be in the Hall of Guardians."

"Sounds very important," Bing said, floating closer to Rose for ome comfort, though his shell gave off a frightened clicking as he huddled by her. "And a little scary."

"We're safe here Bing, the Zavala here isn't going to snatch you out of the air like the one we knew would." Rose assured, taking Bing in her hands in the same way Arielle had seen Eris holding her orb, holding Bing close to her so she could protect him from any grabbing hands. "Now no one can take you away."

"Thanks Rose." Bing seemed to smile as they continued to walk down the steps to the Hall of Guardians.

"They are here." Eris Morns voice stated, breaking the silence that had filled the Tower since their arrival and Rose reminded herself this wasn't her world when all eyes in the room were suddenly upon her and her Ghost.

"Come." Zavala said, "There is much we all need to hear and say." He added.

"Bing, could you come with us please." Zavala's Ghost called from the gathering of Ghosts behind Zavala, though Watson, Wiccan, Atriums and Ferrum were still beside their respectful Guardians.

"I'm staying with Rose." Bing stated, practically overflowing with worry and fear.

"Bing," the larger Ghost began only to stop as Vakarian and Wrex moved in front of Rose and Bing, both flaring their shells and acting as a visual block between the other Ghosts and Bing. "What's gotten into you two?"

"Let him stay." Sovereign stated joining Wrex and Vakarian. "This isn't really a matter just for Guardians." He added.

"He has a point." Atriums stated from her place over Shaxx's shoulder. "Let the little one stay with his Hunter."

"Agreed." Watson stated and the two Ghosts glared at one another.

There was a silence until something drew every Ghost to look at Eris's orb before returning to their respective Guardians.

"Thank you." Bing said softly.

"What's going on?" Arielle asked as Rose gently rubbed the joints of Bing's shell to help calm him. "You haven't called a Gathering since before Crota's defeat."

"There is something we must talk about and somethings that must answered directly." Ikora said, though just the tone of her voice told Arielle something was wrong.

"I'm listening." Rose said and everyone noticed her shoulders sank down and her body language spoke of someone trying to make themselves very small from fear.

Ikora nodded, her grim expression softened somewhat. "We have been given a report by the fireteam led by Lindor from her latest mission into the Vault of Glass. From her report we have gathered that the Vex you fought were not from this world, but yours and that same area you were found in, is no longer accessible."

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked in confusion. "We walked right in there, just take a left at the fourth spire you find instead of a right and then keep taking lefts until you reach a very big pit, go down and boom, that's where we found her."

"There is now a very big and very solid wall in the way at the fourth spire." Lindor stated as she and her team arrived. "Terrik tried to run though it and bounced off. Twice."

"So, the way Rose and Bing came here is sealed?" Orion asked. "Or locked off?"

"In a way, from what we can gather." Lindor nodded handing out data pads. "These are the readings we got, compared to the readings Sovereign was able to give us when they went in. Notice anything different?"

Rose looked at the readings and shook her head. "No. They look the same." She said. "Exactly the same."

"They are." Terrik said. "By our readings, no one should have been able to get into that room because it shouldn't have been there. It was a pocket of time, if you hadn't gotten out you would have likely been erased or lost in time."

"Lucky we were there," Orion said then went silent as Arielle looked at him.

"So, what does that mean in the long run for us?" Rose asked still gently petting Bing. "Can't we get back to our time?"

The room suddenly went silent and Rose felt her chest constrict as her stomach turned.

"It may be difficult for you to get home at this time." Zavala nodded at last. "With all the information you have given us, plus new information from Lindor's team and the Queen of the Awoken, we have reason to believe that for now you would be safer and of more tactical value here, with us in our world." He said, trying to keep the conversation away from the darker issue they would have to face.

Judging by how Rose tensed at his words, he should have phrased that better, however before he could correct himself, Arielle put a hand to Rose's shoulder and Zavala felt the same heated yellow glare Orion was subjected too on him.

"She isn't a pawn of war." Arielle growled and lightning danced along the coils of her gauntlets, daring anyone to say anything against her.

"What Zavala means," Cayde stepped in raising a hand in defense, "Is that while Rose was not on the Tower very long and has no way to tell us everything we need to know, she could tell us where in her time the largest danger zones are, who or what rules them and how, if possible to kill them." He said, using a more casual tone and Rose's stiffness faded somewhat.

Rose nodded but said nothing.

Ikora cleared her throat softly, "Perhaps we should start with the most recent development?" She suggested.

"Honest answer." Vlad stated suddenly and looked at Cayde. "Hunter to Hunter, what's happened?"

"Vlad-"

"Something followed us." Rose's voice cut in, trying to think of anything that could cause the Vanguard to worry, but the explanation she herself suggested caused something sick to settle in her still turning stomach. "Something from my world came here too."

"We believe so." Ikora nodded.

"Something came through… but where?" Bing asked looking around. "We didn't see anything. And all the Vex in that pit were killed."

"It didn't come through on Venus." Ikora said.

"Then where?" Orion asked.

"In the Reef. That's the only reason the outpost would move, the only reason the Queen would be worried." Rose said looking at Arielle. "That's why she wanted to talk to you, isn't it?" she asked and Arielle nodded.

Eris spoke up, her voice steady and empty of emotion, though her eyes were focused on Rose. "A large Tai Raven was able to break past the Prince's defenses and attack the Outpost, causing massive damage. When chased, the lone Raven joined a group of twelve and while the attacker was caught and killed, the others retreated beyond the Awoken's boundaries." She explained. "The Queen and Prince now plan to burn the Raven, but first they wish to hear what your world's method was for disposing of the Ravens."

Rose shuddered. "How large is the Raven they killed?"

"According to the reports, it's the same size as a Fallen Skiff." Ikora said reading off the file.

"They have to bleed the Raven first, cutting down into the neck and hang the bird upside down so it bleeds out, leave it for at least six hours, then burn only the blood, the carcass with decay on its own after a few days, so best to get rid of it elsewhere, far away from the Reef where no one will be hurt if it is found by another flock of Ravens."

"How do you know that?" Shaxx asked, though nodded to Zavala to affirm what she was saying was true.

"Because that's how we dealt with them on Venus," Rose said, "Bleed the Raven and burn the blood then when the fires goes out, gather the ashes and spread them around the boundaries of your territory it keeps other Ravens away. If you just burn the body they come circling, looking for any eggs and even cannibalizing the carcass." She added.

"If you only burn the blood, then scatter the ashes from that burning along the boundaries of your territory, Tai Ravens understand that as a boundary and will not cross it unless in large flocks or in the company of an Emperor because they think you are a threat to them, thankfully we didn't have any Emperor Ravens in our world." Bing said. "At least, not anywhere near the planets."

Eris nodded. "I see." She said, and heard the softest of 'hums' from her comm link on the Queen's end.

"We think and given the Raven in the Reef incident we know, that somehow creatures from your world are coming here and with only our own limited information on how your enemies behave and act, we thought it best to talk again with you and formulate a plan of action to stop this world ending up like your own." Zavala stated.

"Zavala." Ikora and Cayde hissed.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"He means that we need your help and any information you can offer would be more than helpful." Cayde said glaring at Zavala for good measure.

"Don't give me that, what else has happened?" Arielle asked, "You wouldn't call a Gathering just for her to agree to help us." She added.

"Arielle." Ikora began in a tone that made Arielle stop, when she looked at Lindor, the other Warlock bowed and shook her head.

There was silence and then Eris looked at Ikora, "She must know."

"Know what?" Rose asked. "What aren't you tell me? What's happened?"

"Alright." Cayde huffed a small sigh. "The Awoken Queen was able to pull some information from a Vex the Prince's Crows were able to capture. Though that, we were able to give Lindor's team an edge and an opening into a Vex Over mind. This Mind was, well, not of our world." He began and the table map lit up slowly, showing a familiar camp site that made Rose's chest feel tight suddenly.

"That's the Blacksnake camp." She said.

"We have not watched the footage recovered. But from what The Queen was kind enough to share from the Vex," he paused and managed to look at Rose, "It is not good."

There was a pause and Rose realized he was waiting for her to object or approve.

"Rose?" Bing asked.

Rose tightened her hold on him ever so slightly and nodded, "Play it."

Bing looked at the images that began to play, watching in horror as the Vex marched on the Blacksnake camp they had been in only a day before, shots taking down the shields and make shift barricades around the camp as the Hunters fired back.

 _~ "Fall back! Fall back!" Someone yelled over an intercepted Comm channel, "We gotta go!"_

 _"God damn it! Rose answer me!" Ace yelled into the comm channel. "Rose!?"_

 _"Ace! Get out of there!" J-Cey yelled. "Ace!"_

 _"Rose?! Fuck!" Ace yelled again before the image flickered and showed a Minotaur breaking down the last of the barricade and destroying what was left of the camp. "Fire in the hole!" Ace yelled as bullets ripping through her armour before the screen erupted with fire and smoke. ~_

Cayde mercifully paused the images, giving Rose time to process what she had just seen.

"They should've left." Rose said, shaking her head and looking away from the images. "Never stay in one place, never wait longer than six hours-damn it she taught me that. Why didn't they move?"

"She made them wait for you, as any teammate should." Vlad said, it was meant to be comforting but he could see the shakes starting in Rose's shoulders. "Hunter loyalty runs deep Rose, you know it and so do we." He added.

"There is more." Cayde broke in. "But it uh, gets uglier." He added looking at Rose, she knew his words held an unspoken pardon. He was letting her chose whether to stay and watch more, or leave and see the rest in her own time.

Slowly she nodded and looked back at the paused images.

Cayde allowed the images to continue playing.

Over and over, the Vex killed without pause or mercy as Hunter after Hunter fell and Ghosts, helpless and frantic to save their Guardians were snatched up by Tai Ravens and crushed, or shot down by Vex, one by one the Hunters were slaughtered and the planet darkened and changed until there were no Hunters left and Venus became a dark, empty, hollow husk of itself.

Darkness had claimed Venus.

The images switched and Lindor covered her mouth to keep the content of her stomach down at the images of lifeless bodies, unarmed and innocent civilians scattered around the ruins of the Ship Serenity a wreck and crashed on the Moon, the bodies were being torn and ravaged by Thrall as Knights and Acolytes tore into the wreckage of the ship.

"Wretched monsters." Eris growled, seeing the slaughtered bodies of Lord Shaxx and Saladin, their Ghosts in small fragmented parts beside them.

The Moon was lost.

The images moved again to show what Rose knew were the broken remains of what had once been the Cosmadrone, over run with Fallen House of Devils, their numbers overwhelming and clearly the now dominating race on Earth as they surrounded the Tower and made what Rose knew was their last push to get into the Tower.

They made it inside and Rose knew without being told what that meant.

"My god." Ikora breathed in shock and horror as Warlocks and Titans were thrown from the Tower and others were beaten and butchered by the Fallen.

 _~ "For the Reef!" ~_

"Mara Sov." Arielle gasped and Rose had to look away as she heard the Queen of her world gave a finally battle cry and the sound of gunfire echoed around the room.

Petra echoed her Queen's cry, twisting and turning with her knife, taking off Fallen heads and arms, ripping into throats and chests with all that remained of her strength alongside her fellow Awoken.

Variks stood before the Queen, his staff bloody with the blood of his own kind, as he blocked their attempts to reach her, cursing in his native tongue as the surviving Warlocks and Titans charged from their Tower, Lightning and Fire dancing and mixing in a deadly cocktail taking down some of the Fallen and buying them time to set up defenses to fight back.

It wasn't enough and in the following moments, Rose saw her Queen fall, Petra beheaded and Variks, still fighting to protect the Queen's fallen body, stood over her, snatching up the fallen guns of Guardians and Awoken alike and using them to bring down as many as he could before a bullet to the head took him down.

Wrex and Vakarian ducked their Shells in shame.

Lightning flared up Arielle's arms as the memories of the slaughter of the Awoken at the hands of the House of Wolves entered her mind; looking at these Fallen in the recordings, they were bigger, far more aggressive and clearly far bolder. If they dared enter this world, Arielle would seek revenge and her righteous fury would deal out retribution in spades.

Zavala was next, standing proud and tall even against all odds, using his whole body as shield and weapon, brutally fighting as behind him, Cayde and Ikora evacuated Holiday, the Speaker and the few remaining Ghosts and Guardians.

The image grew fuzzy as Bing twisted away from them as he watched the image of Zavala's Ghost being crushed in the hands of the House of Devil's Kell, he knew what would happen now.

 _~ "Zavala come on!" Ikora yelled, "Zavala!"_

 _"Get out of here!" The Titan Vanguard ordered. "Get the Speaker out!"_

 _"Zavala!"_

 _"GO!" Zavala snarled._

 _"Everyone hang on!" Cayde yelled, as the ship fired up its engines. ~_

The death of Zavala wasn't seen, but the bloody mess that was left, was enough to assure anyone who saw it that the Titan Vanguard was dead.

No sooner was the ship airborne was it swarmed by Tai Ravens.

 _~ "Pull up Cayde! Pull up!" Ikora yelled taking shots at the Ravens._

 _"I'm trying!" the Exo yelled sweeping and swerving to try and avoid the Ravens and get a clear pathway up into the open Sky. "Oh shit!" he bellowed as an ear splitting scream echoed over the image. ~_

"Omnigul." Eris hissed and her grip on her stone tightened.

"And her brood." Orion said.

The ship crashed heavily into the rotten and Hive controlled Jovian Complex and in seconds the ship was covered in Thrall, Acolytes and Knights trying to break in, hungry for the light in the ship.

 _~ "Ok. Plan F!" Cayde yelled dropping a grenade as he rushed to the back of the ship, snatching the air behind his shoulder as Ikora brought her arms up to her chest._

 _"Guardians to the end." Ikora said. "Give them hell!" ~_

"Plan F?" Zavala asked, turning his attention to Cayde.

"Final." Rose, Vlad, Cayde and Zaragosa chorused. "The last act of our lives."

 _~ "Let 'em have it!" Cayde ordered as he let the Void arrows fly from his bow seconds after the grenade exploded. ~_

Eris looked at Rose as the images continued to play out, watching as she clutched Bing close, sheltering him from the images she was seeing, Eris could see the tears that were barely held back as the images grew worse and worse, the Guardians and Vanguard she had known from the Tower only a few days ago now, slaughtered and killed with apparent ease despite their valiant attempts to hold on to the rapidly fading light.

In what felt like only minutes, Ikora and Cayde-6 were the last lights standing between Omnigul and the Speaker, who had been backed into a deep alcove.

 _~ "Come on, bitch!" Ikora snarled, lightning dancing over her body as she and Omnigul fought in the air, the Warlock putting her very heart into the fight, snapping part of the Wizard's crown with one powerful punch before the Wizard's hand grabbed her throat._

 _"Ikora!" Cayde yelled in anger as he fired arrow after arrow at the Wizard and her brood as they charged him. "Ikora!?"_

 _"Stay alive Cayde!" Ikora yelled in a strangled cry as her body was suddenly engulfed in poison._

 _"Ikora! Fuck!" Cayde snarled drawing back another arrow and letting it fly. "Ideas Sir?"_

 _"Just one. Allow me to have your Ghost a moment." The Speaker said._

 _"Watson," Cayde nodded and fired another arrow, hitting Omnigul's shield and growled as it bounced off. "Better be quick." He added._

 _"What do you need me to do Speaker?" Watson asked._

 _"Carry what little Light is left from us and find new hope." The Speaker said softly._

 _Watson nodded. "I will do all I can." He assured as the Speaker held him in his hands and for a few seconds, the area was filled with Light, forcing Omnigul to scream in frustration._

 _"Get gone Watson!" Cayde's voice yelled as a slightly rusting hand placed something into the joints of his shell before Watson rushed forwards and away, shooting passed the stunned and blinded Hive and out of the small opening into the dark, lonely sky, rushing away from the bloody and pained screams of the Speaker and his own Guardian. ~_

Realization suddenly clicked that what they were watching, was a mixture of information from the Vex themselves and from the captured Ghosts scavenged after the fighting. There was a sad bleeping sound and all eyes were drawn to the small Ghost in Rose's arms and then to the tears that had slipped down Rose's face despite her continued attempts to keep them back.

Watson, bless his light had flown as far and as fast as he could avoiding the Tai Ravens until at last, he reached the Reef and began to scan the area, searching for something that would lead him to safety, ducking and weaving to avid the grabbing hands of the House of Wolves until he flew from the Reef to Mars searching the forgotten and blackened buildings that had been Cabal bases and finding only the rotting corpses and broken shells of Guardians and Ghosts scattered around, from Mars he went to the Moon, searching for anything that would get him somewhere safe.

He found nothing and weak, tired, low of energy of his own and slow from the cold of Space, he reached Venus.

That was where he was chased by Vex Harpies and rushed to find some kind of safety deep in the Vault of Glass, only to be snatched from the air and a Vex Over mind forced a data link on him, enough to rip information away from him before he pulled free and continued to run, turning and twisting until something sucked him upwards and smashed harshly into a solid wall , a clear crack in his optical feed, he tried to make it to the safety of a ledge before he collapsed onto his side.

 _~ "Sor-r-r-r-r-rry Cayd-d-d-d-d-de… I f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-failed…" ~_

The feed went dark and the images stopped.

"We can't go home." Bing bleeped sadly, shaking even as Rose gently petted his shell. "Everything… Everyone is gone."

Rose was silent, head bowed as she pet her Ghost, trying to sooth him despite her own tears.

"That's enough." Cayde-6 stated firmly.

"Cayde." Zavala started.

"No, Zavala." Ikora cut in, "There will be time for questions later." She added.

"But we-" Shaxx began to say.

"Enough is enough." The Speaker stated calmly but also firmly, before turning to Arielle, "Please, take them and let them rest. If we need more, we shall ask for it later," he said.

"Yes Speaker." Arielle nodded and gently lead Rose away.

"This Gathering is over. Until the Hunter is ready we do not press her for information." The Speaker added as he turned and headed back to his chambers to meditate on all he had seen and hope the Traveler would share his wisdom with him.

Silently, those gathered excused themselves and slowly the Hall of Guardians emptied until only the Vanguard were left in their respective places, along with Orion and Vlad.

"Vlad," Cayde began. "She's gonna need a Hunter if she's gonna get through this."

"I'll do what I can." Vlad nodded.

"Good." The Hunter Vanguard stated.

"Better make up with Wrex, Orion," Zavala stated, "We are going to need unity to defeat this darkness."

"Yes sir." Orion said.

"Very good."

Ikora glance towards Eris, who was slowly making her way outside, one hand petting her orb. For Eris to seek the light of the Traveler for comfort truly meant she had been unnerved by what she had witnessed in the fallen Ghost's memory.

The question now was if they would survive this new Darkness, or if they, like Rose's world, would also fall.

The Throne room was silent.

The Queen's eyes were closed, Variks clutched his staff in his hands and his head bowed in silence. Petra stood shaking in what could either be rage or some other emotion while the Prince looked on in shock at the space the feed had been playing.

None of them had expected what they had seen through Eris's feed. Blood and death yes, but not the way it had been for this Hunter's now lost and ruined world.

"My Lady," Petra at last said breaking the silence. "Your orders?" she asked.

"I have none to give." The Queen stated opening her eyes. "For now, return to your posts, tell no one of what we have seen, I must think on it in more detail."

"Yes My Lady." Petra said and after a deep bow she stiffly made her way out of the throne room.

"Go to your station Variks, study all you can of the Fallen in this Hunter's world, tell me all and everything you find." The Queen added and the Fallen Vandal nodded, bowing as Petra had before him.

"Of course My Queen, My Kell." He said before making his way out.

Uldren waited for the door to close before he turned and knelt before his Queen, "What do you make it my Queen?" he asked.

"The images are troubling, but they ring true with what we have from the Vex and her knowledge of the Tai Ravens is honest. I do not think she realized until now just how lost her world was or that maybe something could have followed her." His Queen stated. "And if the few images we saw are correct, then perhaps our defenses should be increased?"

"I shall put every available solider and guard to work and ensure my Crows are ready for anything." He assured.

"Then we are settled, for now." She said, "But we shall continue to watch this Hunter. Something tells me she will be interesting."

"As you wish, My Queen." He said bowing his head.

Orion found Arielle stood under the shelter of a canopy on the Traveler's Walk, nodding to Lord Saladin as he stood by the gates in the shelter it offered from the sudden torrential rains and Thunderstorm over the Last City. Most Guardians, wisely were settled inside their rooms or in the lounges they shared, waiting out the terrible weather.

Even Xür had moved himself inside the Tower rather than in his place by across from the Speaker, yet Orion could see one Hunter stood out in the rain, alone and lost in her own storm as the wind pulled and twisted her cloak behind her and rain soaked her to the bone.

"Poor kid." He said and really what more could he say? He didn't know how to comfort her, how could you comfort someone who had just watched the world they'd known fall to Darkness and those she had known destroyed and consumed. "How do we help her?" he asked.

"I don't know." Arielle admitted, "We've faced so much in our time, had so many victories, but I have no idea how we face this."

They lapsed into silence again, watching as Rose stood, apparently unable to feel the cold or rain that lashed at her and despite the howling winds and thunder that roared overhead, they could hear the chocked and desperate sobs coming from Rose.

"Where's Vlad?" Arielle asked.

"In the shadows likely." Orion said. "He said he'd watch Rose until she comes in. Where are the Ghosts?" he asked.

"Inside, Bing's with Rose." Arielle said then looked up, spotting the familiar Exo Hunter across from them, crouched out of the rain and wind, watching Rose. "Maybe we should stay, just to be sure?"

"If that's what you want to do," Orion nodded, "but I think this time, what she needs is another Hunter." He added, "We all know loss and pain, but neither of us is a Hunter, we can't begin to understand the bonds between their kinds, just as they can't fully understand ours. We're good for support and while we make a good team and good listeners, I think this is something only another Hunter can help her with."

"And if you're wrong?" Arielle asked looking at him.

"Punch me and tell me you told me so?" Orion offered with a small shrug.

Arielle smiled, "I'll hold you too that." Her yellow eyes drifted back to Rose for a moment before she nodded. "Alright, let's go inside," she agreed and followed Orion back indoors.

Lord Saladin watched them leave and then respectfully turned his back towards the walk.

Rose just stood there, trying so hard to keep the emotions in, trying to keep it locked away, repeating over and over in her mind what she had been told in those few times she'd been in front of the Commander of her world. Guardians did not cry. They did not mourn their losses. They did not show emotion. Guardians were the last line of warriors and could not afford to show weakness.

But it hurt, it hurt so very much, everything she had known, everything she had come to understand and live by, gone, taken and destroyed by the Darkness. Her Mentors, her friends, her teammates, all of them gone. Consumed and defeated in minutes despite all their efforts and time put into planning for such an attack.

It hurt so much.

"There is no shame in tears." Vlad stated from behind her and Rose turned to face him, having not heard him arrive.

"What?" She asked, voice horse and broken.

"There is no shame in tears." He said again and stood beside her. "No one would hold it against you."

Rose shook her head. "Guardians don't cry. Guardians don't show weakness in mourning."

"Weakness?" Vlad asked, moving to stand before her, offering some protection from the howling winds and rain, "You just watched the end of your world, your friends and mentors; if mourning them is weakness, then how are you to remember them? How are you to celebrate their lives, their deeds and efforts if you do not mourn their lives and loss?"

"I-I don't know," Rose said, shaking and sniffling. "I never asked and I never thou-thought that I would be," She stopped clenching her fists tightly as she tried to stop the tears that still fell. "I…" She stopped as Vlad put his hands on her shoulders and for a moment, there was silence between them.

"I won't tell anyone." Vlad assured as he tugged Rose closer to him, putting one hand to the back of her head and put his free arm around her back. "Hunter's vow." He added.

It broke what was left of the crumbling walls Rose was trying to keep up, as everything came flooding out, the tears and questions Vlad couldn't answer came out in a storm of emotion so wild and so ferocious that the storm around them seemed minuscule in comparison.

Vlad stood with her, one arm around her back while the other covered the back of her head, a stance most Hunters used to comfort their own, a secure and comfortable embrace to offer silent assurance and protection.

He wouldn't tell anyone about her state, not even Cayde-6 would hear about this, he would keep his vow and tell no one how she clung to his armour like a child, how she begged for some kind of answer to why all this had happened, why she had been spared where the rest of her world had been consumed, why had so many innocent lives been lost while she had been safe in this world.

He couldn't answer the questions, but he stored them away in his memory banks just in case he could answer them at a later date, all the while, he stood there in the rain with her, the only witness to her break down, save the wind and rain.

At some point her knees got so weak from sobs that she couldn't stand and the sobs had become sniffles and broken hiccups, that was when he had lifted her up and carried her inside, kicking the door to Arielle's room and offered a silent nod as he was allowed in and gently set Rose down on the pulled out bed.

Bing materialized a few seconds later and dropped himself next to Rose's head, his little Shell shaking and twitching as he rested next to her, his optical ball dull and flickering as Vlad gently placed a blanket over Rose and then folded a pillow case in half and put it over the little Ghost.

"What do we do Vlad?" Orion asked.

"For now," the Exo said, "We let her recover from this and then, we help her get through what's to come."

"And if it gets too much?" Arielle asked.

"I don't think Cayde or Ikora will mind if we beat a few heads in for being rude towards Rose." Orion said. "Zavala might make a fuss, but then again, he makes a fuss if his part of the table is a mess." He added.

Arielle and Vlad smiled.

Somewhere in the shadows, hidden on the surface of Callisto, something shifted and slowly tore itself open and from within, came wave after wave of a familiar dark blue cloaked Fallen Dregs, Vandals and Several Captains took their places watching for any attacks that could come before four Ketches were escorted through by a large number of Fallen Skiffs.

Each flew the House Banner of Wolves.

Form his Ketch, the Kell opened his comm channel.

 _~ {"Come Wolves of the Eliksni, Virixas, Kell of Wolves_ _summons you."} ~_

" ** _WHAT_**?!"

All eyes turned to Variks as the Fallen vender's outright scream of shock and horror had cut through the outpost like a knife.

"Variks what is it?" Petra asked ripping the cloth from the door to find Variks looking horrified beneath his helmet and chain mail vail, the staff forgotten on the floor as the Vandal braced himself against his table for support.

 _~ {"Follow these coordinates and report to Skolas, Parixas and Irxis for further orders."} ~_ Variks heard and began to shake, quickly typing on his comm monitor and muttering to himself in his own native tongue.

"Variks? Variks what's wrong? What was that on the comms?" Petra asked as she watched Variks move swiftly, checking, copying and rechecking the device as if trying to find some kind of flaw or mistake in the programming only the grow more frantic as he found nothing. "Variks!?"

"We must inform the Queen!" Variks hissed, grabbing up his staff in one hand while clutching he comm monitor tightly. "The Wolves of the Hunter's world have come here!"

"How many of them?" Petra asked.

"All of them! Skolas. Parixas. Irxis. Virixis Kell of Wolves." He growled in what Petra had come to understand was urgency, Variks was truly worried and he was also afraid, truly afraid of what he had heard and that fear only grew as the device in his hand spoke again. "He summons the Fallen."

They had barely survived the Reef Wars before and if the House of Wolves was back at full strength-the Awoken would be heading to war against the Fallen once more. A war they had only won because of Variks and the Queen's brilliant strategizing.

Petra nodded and turned on her heel, "Make a hole!" she yelled and soldiers and guards moved aside as she and Variks raced towards the Throne room.

"How is she?" Orion asked from his seat at the table, quietly setting out breakfast plates.

"She's been restless all night." Vlad admitted from his spot next to Rose, having sat beside her since he'd brought her into the room Sovereign, Vakarian and Wrex all quietly trading codes and information between themselves as Arielle made breakfast.

"Let her sleep." The Warlock said, "She needs it."

"I'm awake…" a small voice chimed in as Bing slowly floated up and twisted his shell panelling a few times as he did.

"How you feeling little guy?" Vlad asked, offering his hand to the Ghost and Bing landed with a soft sighed.

"Lousy. And scared." Bing admitted, "What's gonna happen to us now? We can't go home and-and the Ravens have already found a way through what if the Fallen or the Hive do too? What's gonna happen?" he asked.

"We don't know, but you won't be cast out." Vlad assured. "Cayde would never allow it and neither will we." He added.

"We can stay here?" Bing asked. "Even though we brought trouble?"

"You didn't bring trouble at all." Arielle assured, "You couldn't have known that the Vex were screwing with interdimensional travel in your world, and there is no way you could have known if anything might follow you here. And if anyone says that you did they are dead wrong and I'll deal with them personally."

"We will deal with them." Orion corrected. "No one is gonna make any friend of ours uncomfortable. And if they do, they will be in or a whole world of hurt." He added.

"So… you won't let anyone send us away?" Bing asked.

"Not so long as we have bullets, Super energy and a Ghost." Vlad chuckled. "No one will ever take you or Rose away, nor will we let them send you away."

Bing gave a happy bleeping sound and for the first time since landing the night before and Arielle smiled at the little Ghost.

"Rose is waking up." Bing said suddenly and true to his words, Rose began to stir slightly and the still damp hair clung to her red slightly reddened face as she stiffly moved to sit up slowly, groaning as her shoulders and arms ached.

"Ow..." she groaned. "I'm stiff."

Vlad chuckled. "Nothing a hot shower won't cure." He assured.

"Ok," Rose said wincing as she tried to get up, "Oh, ow…"

Arielle smiled and moved to help Rose stand up while Orion took her place in the kitchen making breakfast. "Come on, let's get you ready for the day."

"Morning."

Ikora and Zavala looked up as Cadye-6 came into the room and both blinked. The Exo looked as if he had not recharged in his hour off, if anything he looked like he had run himself into the ground with work.

"Did you have your oil?" Ikora asked.

"Nope." Cayde stated. "I was distracted."

"He isn't the only one who looks in need of rest and refreshments." Lord Saladin stated as he came down the steps, carrying a tray of cups with something Ikora had been craving all morning. "One large straight black coffee for Ikora, no cream or sugar. One large extra strong tea with two sugars and one cream, plus one extra tea bag for added strength for Zavala. And for Cayde a large oil."

"Where is Lord Shaxx?" Zavala asked.

"He has already downed seven large white coffees and two caffeine pills. He has been sent to bed by orders of his Ghost." Lord Saladin stated. "This situation has gotten us all rather, stressed." He added placing three portable recharge docks on the table and almost instantly Watson and Wiccan drifted down and settled on the docks for a much needed recharge while Zavala's Ghost remained hovering over his shoulder.

"No kidding." Ikora said ripping the lid off her cup and taking a long drink, neither Cayde-6 nor Zavala questioned it as they two were taking what Saladin would later call synchronized pulls of their own drinks.

"Thank you Saladin." Cayde said with a nod of the head. "Now, what do we do with this information from last night?" He added, looking over their map and the aptly dubbed 'Rose Map' that had made in an attempt to plan for attacks from anything that came through to their world from Rose's.

"As for our own safety, perhaps we are best sending some Guardians to the empty Towers along the Wall and have them fortify as many as we can." Ikora said. "We have already reclaimed three of the original six, with the other three back in our control we could not only increase the living space, but also allow for larger training and teaching grounds."

"A good plan, but perhaps it would be better to do this by other means to avoid the Civilians in the City becoming fearful?" Zavala offered.

"What do you plan?" Cayde asked.

"Send out the Future War Cult, Dead Orbit and The New Monarchy, their numbers have grown and they each need a place of their own to continue to develop." Zavala stated. "Three groups, three towers."

"Three former Titan Towers." Saladin stated.

"We cannot stay in the past, Saladin." Ikora said, "The Zavala of Rose's world was keeping to his ways despite the rapidly falling hope and you saw it. We need more diversity." She added.

"What are you thinking?" Cayde asked.

"Six Towers is more than enough for all Guardians of all kinds. If we are to reclaim all six, then we make it a rule, no one kind of Guardian dominates them. Warlocks, Hunters and Titans lives together and they maintain a balance of races and Guardians, fire teams, ships and those of us like Lord Saladin, Lord Shaxx and the Clans move between them in a rota. Like we do now." Ikora explained. "We may need to spare a few days for repairs and rebuilding in the old Towers, but it can be done."

"Agreed." Zavala nodded.

"I'm sure Holiday will be happy with it, she's running out of room to store everyone's ships as it is." Cayde added.

"What of the other groups?" Lord Shaxx asked as he sluggishly came down the stairs.

"I thought you were in bed." Saladin said in good nature.

"He refuses to sleep." Atriums stated in a defeated huff before falling onto Shaxx's shoulder where he had added a recharge dock for her. "Recharge you oversized tennis ball." She added with a pointed glare at Zavala's Ghost.

"I am fine." Zavala's Ghost stated with a growl.

"Recharge dock. Now." Watson said from his place on the docks Saladin had brought it. "Or I'll forget I promised not to tell anyone your real name."

"You will not tell anyone!" Zavala's Ghost stated.

"Recharge." Zavala said. "Or I will." He added and reluctantly his Ghost drifted into the recharge dock that had been brought for him and huffed.

The meeting went on, plans and ideas tossed around the table, Eris taking a place near Ikora while the Titan Lords stayed at the opposite end of the table from Zavala, Lakshmi-2 seemed to just appear and took a place beside Cayde, while Arach Jalaal and Executor Hideo arrived separately and stood at opposite sides of the table.

"Maybe if we," Watson began after a while of plans and ideas being thrown around then shook his shell in a no fashion. "No, not this soon, forget I said anything." He added.

"What is it Watson?" Cayde asked refusing to drop the idea his Ghost had.

"It's just, if the Watson from Rose's world came in through Venus, could his shell still be there? Maybe the light within him could help Rose or even us in some way?" He offered.

"You mean to send Rose to Venus?" Ikora asked, "It may be useful, but I would not ask her to go alone."

"Then we send a team with her," Zavala said. "Arielle, Orion and Vlad have already claimed her as a part of their team and with their teachings Rose will no doubt soon be on par with them."

"Then we send her in when she is on par with them not before." Cayde stated. "She's been through enough in the last few days, anymore and I doubt even an Exo's mind would be sane."

"Agreed." Ikora nodded.

Eris suddenly looked up and went very stiff.

"Feel better?" Orion asked as Rose helped wash the breakfast plates up.

"Yea, not so stiff anymore." She admitted. "Though I still can't believe what's happened. Or that I survived it just because the Vex technology glitched." She said.

"What makes you think that's the only reason you survived?" Vlad asked.

"Because that is the only thing that makes sense," Rose said. "I'm nothing special, so the Vex didn't just pick me out of some list of people to drag out of my world and drop in here and they don't have a habit of helping anyone but themselves so their technology must have glitched in order for me to get here." She added.

"Well, she does have a point." Vakarian said, "But I have never known Vex technology to 'glitch' without a reason."

"What do you mean?" Bing asked.

"Vex technology is highly prized, even the Cabal of all races studies it." Vakarian said, "And we struggle sometimes to hack it so we can progress into the Vault of Glass, since the door closes and reseals every few days." He added.

"If we have better shells we could just break the door down." Wrex said.

"Oh! I forgot." Rose said and searched the pockets on her belt. "Where did I put it?"

"Put what?" Arielle asked.

"I found a Ghost Shell in the Prison, it's too big for Bing but it might be useful for Wrex." Rose said and smiled, pulling the small round ball like shell from her belt pouch. "Here you go."

"Gimme! Gimme!" Wrex demanded circling Rose and the purple ball like shell. "Arielle get me that! Quick! I wanna test fly it!" he said landing on a recharge dock as his shell started to twitch and open, releasing his inner core. "Quick."

"Slow down, Wrex." Arielle chuckled while taking the new shell from Rose. "This is a Prime Shell, so it might give you a bit of a jolt." She warned while carefully twisting the shell open and held it out. "In you go."

"Yes!" Wrex cheered and with a slight burst of light, his Core moved from his old shell and into the waiting space inside the Prime shell.

Wrex gave a small buzz and then the purple ball like shell hovered up and made a small series of bleeps and clicks as his systems adjusted to the new shell. "How's it feel?" Vakarian asked.

"Lighter, much better spaced and less squashed." Wrex said then gave a happy thrill as the perfect ball shell extended several spikes. "I'm keeping this shell!"

"Suits you Wrex." Arielle chuckled. "Don't you think so Orion?"

"Well, it certainly proves what I said about you liking things that are sharp and painful." Orion stated.

"And you don't?" Wrex asked and the two seemed to glare at each other.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry I called you a hunk of junk with no use on the field." Orion huffed and offered his hand out to Wrex, who flopped into the waiting palm. "Forgive me?"

"Forgiven, but if you ever let me get that logged down with useless data again I'll tell Arielle where you hide your ammo stashes and I'll tell Lindor where the chocolate is." Wrex affirmed.

"Finally." Vakarian stated and Sovereign chuckled.

"So, what shall we do today?" Rose asked.

"First stop the Bounty Board. Then hunting." Vlad smiled, "Arielle took you everywhere yesterday but for today, I think we'll all head out for the Cosmodrome and take down a few Devils."

"That would be nice." Rose smiled.

"In that case." Orion chuckled looking at Vlad. "Last one to the bounty board gets first round of drinks tonight!" he said and took off out the door.

"Oh no! You are not beating me Titan!" Vlad laughed chasing Orion.

"Oh boy." Arielle chuckled as she and Rose followed the boys at a much slower pace with their Ghosts. "Here we go again."

A shadow fell over the Plaza and all eyes turned upwards with confusion and wonder as a familiar purple and yellow Hildan Seeker, winged by two more classical blue Hildan Seekers came around in a steady and clear heading to land over the Travelers walk.

"Whoa!" Orion yelped skidding to a stop.

"Arielle! Get over here quick!" Vlad yelled.

Arielle and Rose arrived seconds later. "Oh, not good." Wrex said. "I don' think we are going Bounty hunting today." He added.

"Stay close." Arielle said to Rose and moved forwards watching as Petra, closely followed by two Queen's Guards, both carrying what looked like Data pads and other important items, jumped the railing and all but swung herself down the stairs, heading towards the Hall of Guardians.

"This is bad." Rose said. "Isn't it?"

"Very bad." Arielle said. "Come on." She added leading them down the stairs after Petra and her guards.

"The House of Wolves?" Ikora asked in horror. "Where?!"

"On the Jupiter moon of Callisto. The Prince's crows confirmed it less than an hour ago, they are gathering more Fallen and even without adding numbers to their ranks the house of Wolves is already enough to wipe out not only The Reef but also Earth." Petra explained, "We believe they are from the same world as the Hunter, Rose." She added.

"How can you be sure?" Zavala asked and Petra waved one of the guard's forwards and they handed Zavala one of the data pads they had while the other bean to download everything else they had into the War Table's data banks.

"Footage from the Crows." Petra said as he watched the footage, handing the pad to Cayde after he had seen enough to convince him while he searched out the map he needed on the table. "Variks is already working on jamming their signals and causing as much disruption as he can, but it will not buy us much time. They will strike and they will kill."

"What do you need?" Ikora asked.

"Nothing from you." Petra said and turned to Arielle and her team. "Arielle, The Queen of the Reef calls on you once again to be her sword. Will you answer?"

"I will!" Arielle didn't even hesitate. "And so will my team," she added.

"What about Rose?" Orion asked.

"The Queen has called on her, as well." Petra nodded, looking at Rose, "Will you answer the Queen's call?"

"I will." Rose nodded.

"Then we leave at once." Petra said as the Queen's Guards finished their tasks.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter four.

The Sword and Shield.

"By the Traveler." Vlad said looking towards the gathered fleet of Awoken, some Guardians, all gathering and moving out in huge battalions from what could only be the Outpost on high alert. "How many Fallen we talking about here?" he asked trying to work out in his own head the odds in this upcoming war.

 _~ "Thousands." ~_ Petra stated over the comms, _~ "And more keep coming."~_ She added.

 _~ "How many Ketches were seen?" ~_ Rose asked.

 _~ "So far, we know they have four. We think each one houses a different head of the Wolves." ~_ Petra admitted.

 _~ "So what's the plan?" ~_ Orion asked. _~"I mean, the Queen defeated the Kell before and your people killed all but Skolas last time, then after the Betrayal the dumb fucker was caught by the Crows and is being held in some unknown location at the Queen's not so tender mercy. How do we go about making that happen again now?" ~_ He added unable to see the way Arielle winced at his words.

Skolas wasn't being held. Not anymore. She'd seen to that herself one night after the self-appointed Kell of Kells had been brought to the Prison of Elders. Variks still wouldn't let her back into that area of the Prison, but she knew he had the only proof of what she'd done to Skolas.

 _~ "We're trying to improve the plans we used before, they are a little outdated so the Prince is looking them over with the intention of making them work on a larger scale. Beyond that, well you are a Titan, I'm sure you can figure it out." ~_ Petra stated.

 _~ "Kill anything not Awoken and don't shoot a rocket near a friendly. Got ya." ~_ Orion said. _~ "Arielle you ok? You've been quiet since we left." ~_

"Just thinking." The Warlock stated. "If these Wolves fight like ours did, then we might be lucky. If not, I don't think we'll do very well without some serious fire power and a lot of luck."

 _~ "There's the docking platform," ~_ Petra stated. _~ "The Prince will be in there." ~_

Arielle heard Orion sigh but said nothing, Orion would be respectful of the Prince, even if that meant he had to endure listening to the snide insults Uldren could throw at him. But she also knew that Uldren would be more focused on keeping the Queen safe to act on his own desire to torment the Guardians.

At least for now.

"Do you want me to stay with Rose?" Vakarian asked her.

"No, I will need you on the plans. Vlad and Orion can watch her." Arielle stated as they docked. "Let's do this."

Rose looked around before following them inside the designated command station, spotting Variks moving between comm monitors and frequency jammers with practiced ease, muttering to himself as he worked, around him the Awoken made mortar shells, loaded up their guns and ships with ammo of all kinds ready for battle.

The Prince himself was leant against a table, maps and images flickering in and out of focus as he listened to his Crows and placed marks down where the largest numbers of Wolves were and where the sightings of the Kell and his Captains were.

"No, that's no good to us, the Wolves out match us with firepower, we can't risk them seeing us before we are ready." He snarled hearing one report that clearly angered him as all his work was wiped out with a wave of his hand and he began to redo his entire plan. "Track any ships coming and going, and once they're far enough away from the main gathering kill them. Leave nothing behind. Whatever happens we must not let them break past our defenses." He added.

"How long has he been at this?" Arielle asked Petra.

"Since we told the Queen the Wolves were here," Petra said, "We've been working nonstop."

"Right." Arielle stated then turned to her team, "Stay here and stay out of trouble."

"You sure you'll be ok?" Orion asked nodding his head to the Prince. He'd not seen the Prince in such a state before and it worried him.

"I've done this kind of thing before," She assured. "Just wait here and please, don't draw attention to yourself."

"Alright." Orion said watching her go up the few stairs to the planning table with Petra.

Arielle took a deep breath and for a moment she let all thoughts leave her mind. She had once done this as easily as she breathed. She had been the Queen's Sword, the blade that cut down any foe or threat towards the Queen, and where Arielle had been the weapon, Uldren had been the Shield.

They had worked as a team for years before the Queen's plot had been revealed to her. She had left the service of the Queen, had left the title of the Sword behind and become just plain old Arielle the Stormcaller, a part of the Tower's defenses and a bounty hunter when the battle for the Traveler seemed to lull. But now war threatened her Queen and home once again, now she needed to be the Sword, she had to be the weapon that slaughtered the Queen's enemies once more and to do that, she had to unlock the side of herself she had locked away when she left the Reef all those years ago.

"Prince Uldren, I have returned from the Tower with further aid as the Queen requested." Petra stated and Arielle slowly opened her eyes, looking down at the map with the eyes of the Sword, not the Stormcaller.

"Good, have them gear up and head out to Calisto, I have everything covered here."

"You missed two areas." Arielle said and placed down two marks where Fallen Skiffs could penetrate the Prince's lines and drop in the Wolves. "They'd have us overrun in a matter of minutes, spilt the second battalion and have them go here and here, outfit some of the Pikes we have with better cannons and a few grenades and have them hold these areas while the first battalion moves against the Wolves, pushing them back towards the narrower canyons, easier to pick them off in there."

Uldren took a moment to look over the plan now that she had adjusted it and nodded. "Yes that would work, but only if the lines are held."

"So send up a second line once we push them back, force them into the corners and cut their numbers down with bullets and mortar fire." Arielle stated placing down more marks, "They have nowhere to go this time, Calisto's terrain works against them."

"Only if they stay in the canyons." The Prince stated.

"These Fallen don't know what we've done, what we're capable of. We have the advantage of a previous attack in our memories, we've seen the way they work. We have Variks. We're ahead of the game on this one. Our people will keep them in the canyons." Arielle stated, her tone serious and her eyes seemed to be glowing brighter.

The two held gazes until Uldren nodded, "Alright." He turned to several Awoken, "You heard her. See to it that the First and Second battalions are prepared to leave."

"You ever seen her like this before?" Vlad asked Orion in shock as Arielle continued to lay out a flawless plan of attack with what he could only describe as practiced ease.

The Titan shook his head in awe, "Never."

"Glad she's on our side." Vlad stated.

"Quiet! Quiet all of you! The Kell speaks with his Captains." Variks suddenly hissed out, carefully listening to the Fallen chatter on the comms as the whole room fell silent.

"What are they saying?" Petra asked.

"The Kell of Wolves speaks of some kind of harvesting plan, a means to remove the resources of the Moon. Parixas tells of a ship for salvaging close to their location and, some kind of enhancement to a plan." The Vandal said carefully adjusting and readjusting a dial with one hand while listening to his native tongue. "They speak of plans to raid, scout the Reef for loot or treasures. The Wolf Baroness is raged, angry that the Reef is here again, she seeks its end."

"What of Skolas?" Arielle asked, her tone deadly.

Variks was silent for a time, adjusting his equipment and then growled. "Skolas is still a fool, he insults the Reef and its people; he insults the Queen, he claims her weak and frail, tormented by death of her kin. He plots to attack before the day is done and bring this Reef to its end in swifter a time than the last." Variks stated.

"What insult does he give our Queen?" Uldren growled, knowing Variks was keeping something from them by the clear anger in the Vandal's voice.

Variks seemed reluctant to answer, but before he could repeat the insult, someone else spoke up. "He called the Queen a whore."

For the first time since they arrived, Uldren noticed Vlad, Orion and Rose, though his attention fell squarely on the female hunter, and the Ghost by her shoulder.

"How do you know that?" He heard Arielle ask, somehow keeping his anger at the insult toward his Queen in check, though judging by the lightning that was starting to travel down Arielle's arms, she was beyond angry.

"The Variks we knew made a translating program, most Ghosts have it installed as a means of listening in to comms chatter since he was busy protecting the Queen." Rose explained. "Mostly the program was only useful when Variks wasn't available to translate, but he made sure that every word the Fallen knew was translated into something we could understand."

"They think this Reef will be like the one in our world, easy to destroy. They don't know you are aware of them," Bing said.

"Awoken have darker scent, they live far from the Traveler's light and thus, do not have its scent as most Guardians do." Variks explained, "Fallen cannot smell the danger, must see you first, only have your scent when you are close to them." he added.

"What?" Vlad asked.

"He means that unless a Guardian or Awoken was stood within a foot of a Fallen they wouldn't know what your scent is and thus, don't know what you are." Rose explained, "Everything looks the same to a Fallen when you wear armour, but they can tell who's who by scent, its why even without their House banners, a Dreg who is banished from one House can't immediately join another, other Dregs will attack and chase it off unless a Vandal permits it closer."

"The Variks in your world teach you that?" Petra asked and Rose nodded.

"It took time for the program to be installed in Bing and I was curious about how he knew who was around him even when he wasn't looking." She admitted.

"This is useful." Mara Sov spoke and every person in the room turned to look at her. Her glowing blue eyes were focused solely on Bing and Rose, the Ghost having suddenly become very fearful and hidden behind Rose. "Would you be willing to share that information?"

"She means you will share it, girl." Uldren stated roughly and Arielle glared at him, "The Queen speaks as she means, or do you mean to assume her words better than she does?"

"I'll allow his interruption, Arielle. I am waiting for an answer, Hunter." Mara stated coolly, "Will you do your service as an Awoken and share the program?"

Rose bowed her head, "The program belongs to you, Your Grace. The Variks of my world made it with the permission of the Queen when she was told the number of Fallen we were facing, in my world you ruled the Awoken no matter if they came from the Reef or Earth born so by that you are my Queen here as you were in the world I came from."

Mara nodded, "You may assist Variks and your ball may share the information with him. My Sword and Shield, a meeting. Now." She walked off, followed by the Queen's Guard.

"How long was she standing there?" Bing asked and Rose brought him over to Variks.

"I have no idea." Vlad admitted.

Uldren spoke a few words to Petra before following after his sister. Arielle remained behind a moment to scan the map once more before approaching Variks' station. Her team had followed Rose and she wanted them to know that she would be in a meeting.

"I didn't know you were a strategist, Ari." Vlad stated when she approached.

"I'm only what my Queen needs me to be." Arielle replied honestly, "Variks do you need anything?"

"Not now. Help from this Hunter required for now. Assistance will help." He replied carefully attaching a wire to Bing as the Ghost hovered over a data bank.

"Keep me informed of Skolas' movements." Arielle stated and the Fallen looked up at her.

"You wish to hunt him yourself." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"My team and I will hunt him if necessary." She stated in a tone neither Vlad nor Orion had ever heard before.

"Ari, is everything alright?" Orion asked.

She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze, "I'm fine. I have to meet with the Queen right now. I'll be back soon." Her yellow eyes fell on Variks once more, "I want the information on Skolas."

Finally he nodded, "Very well. Will inform Vakarian."

Arielle walked off in the direction the Queen and the Prince had gone with Vakarian floating beside her. Orion watched her go with a frown, "I don't know what's gotten into her."

"That is not your Arielle. She is Queen's Sword." Variks remarked as he monitored the information coming from Bing, the code looked so alike his own work he could predict the sequences and found himself rather annoyed that he hadn't thought of doing such a thing sooner.

"Sword? Like her right hand or something?" Vlad asked.

Variks nodded, "Prince of Crows is the Shield and Arielle is the Sword. They are the Queen's fury and vengeance. Deadliest weapons the Queen commands. None will escape her fury."

"So she swore herself back to the Queen, that's what she was doing here with Rose." Vlad stated.

"Arielle has promised the Queen and the Reef her aid, as well as yours." Petra stated as she stepped forward, "Arielle has always been able to compartmentalize, the Sword is not who she really is, but who the Queen needs her to be. You won't lose her." She added the last part to soothe Orion.

Vlad sighed, "The Vanguard knew, didn't they?"

Petra nodded, "Arielle's role here was never hidden from the Vanguard. It was how she met Ikora in the first place. Ikora offered her a place on the Tower when she left the Reef and she's been there ever since."

"But why did she leave if she was so important to the Queen?" Rose asked curiously.

"That is only between the three." Variks stated and Petra nodded in agreement, "We don't know. It's not our business."

Arielle entered the throne room with Vakarian and Uldren and Mara were talking to one another quietly, only to stop when the Warlock approached. "You wanted a meeting?"

Mara stood, "I am pleased to see that you answered my call. Welcome back, my Sword."

"An honour to be called upon to serve, Your Grace." Arielle stated with a bowed head.

"I need you both at your best, the Reef and the Awoken need you to let go of the issue between you two. You will discuss this now and are not allowed to leave until everything is resolved. Am I clear?"

"This is absurd!" Uldren stated.

"Is it? You two have fallen into your roles easily, but I need to know that it will last even if you infuriate one another because one of you oversteps your bounds. Does that sound absurd to you?" The Queen demanded.

"Not at all." Arielle answered honestly despite Vakarian's attempt to interrupt her.

"I shall give you a moment alone then. I trust the ball will not be an issue." Mara stated as she left the throne room.

"I'm not a ball." Vakarian huffed.

"She does it to all the Ghosts, Vakarian. Don't feel singled out." Arielle remarked.

"Why did you come back?" Uldren asked suddenly and Arielle was forced to meet his gaze.

"I wanted to run the Prison of Elders with Rose. I was angry and needed to kill something." She stated as she fought the urge to look away from him.

"I've known you too long, Ari. You would never come for something so trivial. Not the woman who fought Crota, the warrior that slaughtered Skolas."

"You aren't supposed to know about that." She whispered.

"Variks would not lie to his Kell, and my sister thought I should know what you did. Everyone else believes Skolas to be hidden away in a dark part of the Prison, but we know better. Why did you really come back?" He asked again.

"Rose told us of her world and I realized that I was concerned about my partner in her world. I may not have existed there, but you did. I didn't like realizing that I was concerned, you really hurt me Uldren."

"That had never been my intention. I truly believed you would've been happy with our decision."

Arielle laughed bitterly, "Then I suppose you never really knew me then."

"I wanted you by my side, Arielle. All the time. I saw no problem with the Queen's plan. You were the right choice, the only choice. Only the Queen commands more respect and instils more fear than you. You were the perfect candidate."

Arielle glared at him, "And as I told the Queen, you should've asked me."

"You wouldn't have agreed."

"Because trying to make me Mara's replacement, should anything happen to her, is a stupid idea and I don't want the job. There will be no other Queen than Mara Sov, and my love and loyalty to both of you should've been enough to tell you that plotting to make me her successor would end badly for everyone." Arielle explained.

There was a tense silence that Vakarian ignored as he floated around the throne room, investigating. He wanted nothing to do with the serious conversation occurring around him. This was Arielle's business and if anyone asked him about it later, he'd claim he was working on calibrations.

"You walked into the room and took control, as if you never stopped being the Sword." Uldren stated, his attempt to break the tension seemed to succeed when Arielle sighed.

"We were always a good team when it came to being the Sword and Shield. We only failed when we were a couple."

"We were fine."

"No we were not, Uldren. We never fixed anything, all our problems were pushed aside because it was more important to serve or just because neither of us really knew how to fix it. Neither of us would compromise that was for sure. We were both so sure we were right. Those relationships don't have happy endings Uldren, and ours certainly didn't." She ran a hand through her hair, "I let you go because it was best for me. I was unhappy. You were unhappy. We didn't talk about anything that wasn't work. We fell out of love a long time ago, Uldren, but you know, I was alright with that. I was content to be with you because you were my best friend, the person I trusted to have my back if we went to war. I depended on you and you depended on me. I find it ironic that my heart was the one thing I didn't trust you with."

He sighed at those words. He'd been surprised but happy to see her walk into the room and take control again, to have his other half back to fight alongside him. She was right. When it came to protecting the Queen and fighting for the Awoken, they were always in sync, but as a couple they never worked properly. That didn't mean he didn't love her, because of course he did.

"I left the Sword behind when I left here, Uldren. I was only Arielle the Stormcaller, and sometimes Arielle the Voidwalker. I became a bounty hunter, an extension of the Vanguard and a member of a fireteam. I travel everywhere with Vlad and Orion, I trust them with my life, as they trust me with theirs." She paused, "And I've given Orion my heart. I'm happy with him, even when he infuriates me because he's so concerned about proving to me and you that he can take care of me."

"Prove to me? What an idiotic thing to worry about." Uldren remarked but Arielle saw right through him.

"Don't give me that. I know what you did. Just like I know you've been keeping an eye on me."

He met her unamused glare and replied, "Well I wanted to make sure you were safe and well cared for. How was I to know the idiot was would decide to take it to the extent he has. You should've talked to him about it."

"I did, but he's determined. " She shook her head, "I let go of my anger years ago, but I did enjoy the way you got to struggle with your guilt."

"Sadist." Uldren remarked.

"You deserved it. So think we can work together even when I'm not the Sword?" Arielle asked.

Uldren's glowing yellow eyes met hers and he nodded, "Getting along with you was never in question, at least not to me. You were right, we didn't work as a couple but that doesn't mean all of my feelings for you have disappeared."

"I know, but I want you to figure out if they're actually romantic feelings or if it's just the familiarity we share with one another." Arielle stated.

"It will take a while to figure out, but we're professionals. I'll fight at your side again, Arielle."

She nodded and offered him a smile, "I'll fight at your side Uldren."

They grasped arms, a sign of familiarity and unity that they would agree to fight together, for their Queen and their people. Mara entered the room carrying a thin box and she handed it to Arielle as Vakarian floated over to them.

"What's in the box?" The Ghost asked

Arielle opened the box and sighed, "My uniform."

"It's been outfitted with the armour from the Kell of Kells. You prefer your Warlock uniform, but these are yours, rightfully earned." Mara stated.

"What happened to Skolas' cloak?" Arielle asked as she removed the uniform from the box to study it.

Mara's eyes seemed to glow brighter, "I wear that. Gifted to me by my Sword after she single-handedly defeated Skolas."

"Dark. I can appreciate the brutality." Vakarian remarked.

"I'll change, but I keep my gauntlets. I do so much more damage with them." Arielle explained.

Rose and Bing had just finished sending the program to Variks who immediately installed it into the waiting Wrex and Sovereign. They were working on installing it on into the comms for the others when the room fell silent. Everyone was looking towards the room the Queen, the Prince, and Arielle had disappeared into.

Rose's eyes widened at the sight of the Queen, awe evident in her expression. She had never see the Awoken Queen look as she did now, a statue of barely concealed rage, but there was intelligence to her rage that made her glowing blue eyes brighter. She was the epitome of righteous fury. On her left, stood Prince of Crows, Uldren, his own yellow eyes also aglow with rage. To the right of the Queen, stood Arielle, in a new uniform that Rose was certain she hadn't had with her when she walked into the meeting with the Queen. Gone was the dark blue Warlock cloak, now she bore a uniform similar to Petra's but the colour scheme was different.

Bing moved to hide behind Rose again at the sight of the Queen. "She's angry," he said, peeking out from behind the safety of his Guardian.

"I think enraged is more the word." Vlad said.

The Queen stepped forward and Uldren and Arielle walked after her, and Vlad eyed the cloak hanging from the Queen's shoulder. "That's the House of Wolves mark, isn't it?"

"Worn by Kell of Kells. Queen is Kell of House of Wolves until they turned. She is the last of the House of Wolves. The only Kell." Variks explained.

"What's up with Ari's armour?" Orion whispered.

"The Sword's uniform, dyed in the Queen's Web, the colour she chose. It shows her status as the Queen's Sword." Petra explained quietly. "She is equal in battle to the Prince, and no one but the Queen shall order her to do anything."

"The Awoken have fought the Fallen before. We destroyed them in the Reef Wars, I took control of House of Wolves and they bowed before me. We showed them mercy and gave them a home amongst the Awoken. When they betrayed the Reef and their Kell for Skolas, I unleashed my wrath upon them, sent my Sword after them as I welcomed the Guardians to our Reef. The House of Wolves fell and Skolas fell with them." Her blue eyes searched the room as she continued, "A new House of Wolves comes to our world, and they believe that they will defeat us. The Awoken do not fall easily, and this House does not know the wrath of your Queen. The Guardians fight alongside us, and my Sword has returned to my service. We are prepared to stop them. We will eliminate the House of Wolves once more and remind all the Fallen that the Reef belongs to the Awoken and Mara Sov."

The Queen listened to the roar of applause from her people. They were strong, they had survived the House of Wolves once before and they would survive it again. She could feel the presence of her Sword at her right side once more. "You will show the Fallen no mercy. Let the hunt begin. Again."

She watched.

Making note of every face she saw and every name she heard, watching every movement and change to the plans made by the Prince when the Guardians arrived, but most of all, she watched the female Hunter and her Ghost. A curious pair, these two were odd but at the same time, they had something interesting about them. Their light, compared to the bright white light of those Guardians around them was dull, a dark grey colour.

The Ghost's behaviour seemed almost childlike, hiding from the Queen of the Awoken despite the help it offered her and her people, while the Hunter seemed strangely lost in the noise around her, trying to offer whatever information she could while her Ghost was busy.

They both seemed to know what was happening and they both seemed worried, even as they, the Titan the Exo Hunter and Petra left the small station and took off toward the battle fronts, they were clearly worried by something.

Despite all this, they were not any kind of threat. She moved on and began to monitor the Fallen she had seen coming through a Rip in the air. Whatever was happening, these Rips seemed to be the source of the trouble and she would gather as much information on them and the report back to her Masters.

"Any idea what we are looking for?" Orion asked as he and Vlad lead the way towards an area of their camp where the ground seemed to sink down and allow for many hidden cracks and caves that Arielle wanted them to check.

"According to scouts and the scans we took of the area as we landed, it is littered with caves and tunnels, but we have no idea how far or where they go, if they are just a maze of Tunnels we'll be ok, but if they go on and join to tunnels near the Wolves, we will have to see to it none of the Wolves get in to our camp." Petra stated as she pulled up alongside them driving an Awoken painted Pike.

"You ok back there Rose?" Vlad called back.

"We're ok." Rose assured, "Map says we're are close." She added.

 _~ "Slow down or you'll shoot off the edge." ~_ Arielle stated over the comms. _~ "And watch your step, the last report said the ground was unstable." ~_

"Shaky ground and possible tunnels, might as well have gone to our own moon." Vlad said. "Who wants to bet we find Hive here?"

 _~ "Not funny Vlad." ~_ Arielle said. _~ "Check the area and if it is a problem let us know,"~_

"Yes ma'am." Vlad said. "Well, let's get this done." Loading his weapons.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Vakarian was having the program installed while Variks continued to monitor the channels.

"Program is almost fully installed. Soon all Ghosts and Awoken will understand the Wolves easily." Variks stated as they reached the steep slope of the area.

"Then we move when the program installation is complete." Arielle said then looked up as a very clear and familiar cackle echoed over the comms. "Here we go."

 _{"Tai Raven carcass, recently bled. These Awoken are not so weak. Maybe Skolas is not so smart as he claims."}_ A deep and growled voice stated. _{"Keep watch of the sky."}_

 _{"The Rabid is fool. He seeks what he cannot have."}_ The second voice was slightly higher in pitch, but still sounded just as growled and had a sharp edge.

"Parixas and Irxis." Variks identified quietly before the channel was filled again this time, with a broken chuckle.

"What have they found?" Arielle asked.

"They are near where they said a ship was." Vakarian said searching the channel.

 _{"Crow ship, recently crashed. No good for scrap, too much damage."}_ Parixas huffed nd there was a loud crunch and small explosion.

 _{"Reef here still has Prince. Will be fun to kill again."}_ Irxis said with a chuckle.

 _{"Why so interested in Prince? Queen is more valuable to Awoken."}_ Parixas growled out. _{"She is Kell to them, kill her, and Awoken fall."}_

 _{"Queen is protected by Prince. Prince is Shield. Break shield and Queen will fall."}_ Irxis said with a sickening chuckle.

"She dies at my hands." Uldren hissed.

"Agreed." Arielle said, she had her own target in mind. "Anything?" she asked into the comms.

 _~ "Nothing yet, just lots of lose ground and signs of landslides, we're still trying to find a way into the cave system." ~_ Vlad stated.

Petra noticed Bing suddenly move and watched as the small Ghost dared to drift away from Rose and look out over the land beneath them, as if searching for something, curious as to what the little Ball of light had seen after a few moments she also turned and searched the area.

"Rose." Bing said and Rose turned and looked around, "Something's wrong." He added and though Rose could see nothing at first, she took out her sniper Rifle and scanned the horizon and area again, this time slowly.

 _~ "Our scans show nothing but the four of you." ~_ Uldren snapped over the comms, likely they were watching through Ghost Telemetry. _~ "There is nothing there." ~_

"Bing's never been wrong before." Rose stated and seemed to stop searching, "And rocks don't shimmer." She added and tensed in preparation to fire her rifle, moments later the bullet shot from the barrel and blew the head off a Dreg, its cloaking device falling away as it fell from its place on the wall.

"How did you know it was there?" Orion asked Bing as the Ghost returned to Rose's shoulder. "Another Lesson from the Variks you know?" he added.

"I saw something moving, but I couldn't see it after I started to look for it. Rose has better eyes than me." Bing admitted.

"Dregs never travel alone." Vlad said. "Come on." He added heading into the caves, pausing when Rose grabbed the Dreg dragged it with them.

Back at the control point, Arielle shot Uldren a knowing look and the Prince hummph'ed. "She was lucky." Uldren stated.

"She's a survivor." Arielle corrected. "And I trust her."

Uldren would have said something had it been anyone else saying that, but Arielle did not give her trust out easily and in this instance, he had little to show the Hunter was any kind of threat and so for now, he would trust Arielle's judgement.

"Why can I hear hissing?" Vakarian asked.

"What hissing?" Arielle asked as Vakarian increased the volume of his channel so she could also hear it. "Sounds familiar. Variks?"

"Servitor interference. Signals will become faded and weak while they are within range." Variks said. "Destroy Servitors and signal will clear."

"Where are they?" Arielle said searching the area. "They can't be the ones with Parixas and Irxis, they are too far out."

"Locking into strongest signal," Vakarian said muttering to himself as he worked before his single eye flashed. "Oh dear. Petra and the others are heading right for them."

Skolas watched his crew work from his place on a high ledge, searching for any mistakes or issues that his Vandals couldn't resolve. While scouting, he had caught he scent of something and after confirming with his Kell he had taken his crew and started to dig in the area he'd found the scent in, now they were closer to the source, his two Servitors were report increased Ether readings and Skolas knew what that meant.

He'd found a live Ether Vain, a very rare natural find in any House.

Now he just had to insure it was a stable vain and then he could report it to his Kell.

One of his Vandals hissed and clicked, to get his attention as they removed the rubble and debris from around the vain. "What is it?" he asked.

"The vain is stable, but the area around it is not." The Vandal stated. "We cannot get to it without risking an explosion."

"Continue to clear the area, carefully. I will contact the Kell." He stated and moved to a quiet corner and waved one of the Servitors over, putting his cannon on his side and knelt at the Servitor. "My Kell, we have found something in the tunnels below the surface," he stated and then waited for the answer.

 _{"Speak Skolas,"}_ Virixis said.

"A life vain of Ether my Kell, but we do not have the ability to farm it without more equipment. My crew state the vain is stable, but the area around it is not, any attempt we make to harness the Ether could result in the loss of the vain." Skolas stated listening as he heard hisses and clicks behind his Kell.

A Dreg paused and hissed, looking towards a shadowy entrance of a tunnel, sure he had heard something he made his way towards it.

 _{"Secure the area and await my arrival."}_ Virixis ordered.

"Yes my Kell." Skolas nodded.

The Dreg looked carefully at the entrance, sniffing the air and growled.

"Get back to work!" a Vandal snarled suddenly.

"There's something there!" the Dreg said, "I smell it."

Skolas looked up and took a deep breath, scenting the air. Scenting Vandals, Dregs and the Ether, he also caught the metal of the Shanks he had with him and his two Servitor.

"Nothing. Return to your work." He stated. "Now! Our Kell will arrive to insure the safe extraction of this Ether and he will not be proud if you are found to be slacking." He added placing a hand on his cannon in a clear threat to show his intention if questioned.

The Dreg reluctantly returned to work, unaware of how right he had been.

Just beyond the entrance, Petra smiled in something akin to pride as Rose placed the dead Dreg against the tunnel wall, "I am starting to see why Arielle likes you so much." She said quietly.

"Is that a good thing?" Rose asked.

"I'll let you decide that." Petra smiled.

"We got no coms beyond ourselves, Servitors are blocking the channels outwards." Sovereign stated.

"So, we got a cave full of Fallen, Skolas, two Servitors and an Ether vain…" Orion said, "How do we do this without pissing off Arielle and Variks?"

"I have an idea, but it's not smart." Rose admitted. "And might get us killed."

"I don't like it." Bing said.

"What is it?" Vlad asked.

"There are some explosive tanks near the back, if we can get the Servitors over there we could take them out and open comms again… but it would mean we end up fighting and that could mean we end up fighting Skolas for just a little while before Arielle arrives."

"Have you seen the fire power he's carrying? No way we could stand against that for long." Orion said seeing Skolas two scourge cannons and the Shrapnel Launcher he was familiar with seeing.

"You have a bubble don't you?" Bing asked.

"Bubble?" Orion asked.

"That dome thing Titans do." Rose said, "The bubble."

"Your Defender ability." Vlad stated.

"Oh… Well yea that might work," Orion nodded.

"It will, if we rotate." Vlad said, "Save your bubble until we really need it, in the meantime, Rose, Petra and I can do what we do best."

"Run and hide screaming like a little girl?" Bing asked. "Because that means Rose is safe." He added before Rose hushed him softly.

"No." Vlad chuckled softly. "You are good with that sniper rifle, see if you can get high up and do some damage from up there."

"Ok." Rose said.

"But what if you die?" Bing asked. "This... This isn't like when Arielle was with us… and you've never faced the Wolves before." He added before the four ducked back for cover as a Vandal passed close to the entrance. The four tensed as the Vandal paused by them, taking a moment to survey the area and scenting the air before moving on.

"I'll cover Rose," Petra said. "You cover the Bubble maker." She added and Orion huffed at the sudden nick name.

Vlad smirked. "Deal."

Bing made a soft but clearly happy chiming sound at that plan and Patra made a note to talk with the little ball about his fears at a later time, it was odd behaviour for such a tiny ball and it could be useful information for later.

"Wrex."

"Yea?" the Ghost asked as Orion and the others prepared to move.

"Dance time."

Wrex bobbed in a nod and clicked on a music playlist that he, Vakarian and Sovereign shared for such times as this and chose a song at random.

"Kell of Wolves is on the move." Variks's voice cut the silence like a knife. "He travels towards the tunnels."

"We have two options." Uldren said, "Attack now with everything, or wait and possibly lose our best chance."

"No, we can't use a full scale attack." Arielle looked at the map, "We have no word on Skolas, no idea where he is, if we attack now with everything and he turns up with far more Fallen than we can face, we've blown it."

"What do you suggest?" Uldren asked.

"I suggest we have the Crows and Royal Guard hold off if we do attack and keep an eye out for Skolas. Just to make sure we aren't the ones who end up on the wrong end of a weapon." Arielle stated.

"And if we don't have to worry about Skolas?" Uldren asked.

"Then we have back up to take over any fallen lines or defences when this attack is over." Arielle stated. "If we show all our players in one go, we lose the element of surprise. Our trump card as it were."

"Kell of Wolves is to enter the tunnels in approximately ten clicks." Variks stated.

"Arielle." Uldren said, leaving the call to her.

"Vakarian." Arielle said after a long silence as she looked at the map.

"Yes Arielle?" The Ghost asked.

"We need something to dance too."

If Vakarian had the ability he would have smiled.

"Commence the attack." Uldren said, "Keep the Royal Guard and Crows back! MOVE OUT!"

Skolas had no idea what had happened.

One minute he is preparing for the arrival of his Kell and the next the cave erupts with an ungodly howl of noise, four intruders had burst from the tunnels and attacked, cutting down his Dregs and Vandals with ease in moments and now, he was backed into a tunnel himself, the Servitors beside him as he and the remaining members of his crew held their ground.

"Protect the Servitors!" he snarled. "Slaughter them!"

"Oh, I think he's pissed!" Orion laughed unleashing a hail of bullets on a Vandal that dared to try and rush him.

"No kidding!" Vlad said unloading a round and taking down a Dreg with a head shot, the two then darting from their place and drawing fire towards them as Rose scrambled up the cave walls and rocks like she'd done it before and tucked herself in to a tight crevasse and aimed her Sniper rifle at the furthest Servitor away from her.

"Come on you son of bitch." She hissed through her teeth, taking deep breaths to try and keep her shot straight. "Show me your eye."

"Hurry Rose!" Petra said from her place shooting down Dregs and Vandals that tried to follow Rose up the rocks.

"Come on, come on," Rose hissed and then squeezed the trigger as the Servitor turned toward she just enough for her to land a shot, aiming again as the Servitor spun from the first shot and the Eye was left open to her for a second time.

She fired again only to have her shoot blocked by a Dreg. "Shit!"

"Move Rose! Move!" Vlad yelled and Rose yelped as shrapnel came flying at her, she didn't bother to look before she leapt, somehow able to land on a Vandal's head and knock it over as she snatched up her scout rifle and use that to clear herself a path to cover, ending up back to back with Petra.

"This isn't going as planned." Rose said.

"Never dose." Petra smirked. "Having fun?"

"Ask me again when we are out of here." Rose said as they moved together towards Orion and Vlad.

"Plans?" Orion asked Vlad.

"One." Vlad smiled. "Rose! How's your super?" he yelled.

"Good to go!" Rose yelled as they reached them.

"On three, we cut the little ones down, then Orion and Petra can take out the Servitors." Vlad said, "That should get the comms back."

"Ok, who's three?" Rose asked.

"Mine." Petra said reloading her gun. "One." Rose took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Two." Vlad adjusted his hood slightly. "Three!"

"For the Reef!"

The Fallen dropped like flies before them, like they had in the Reef wars, the brave fools who tried to stand fell swiftly and those who ran were easy pickings for the Pike riders and the Guardians who had joined them, forcing the Fallen and the Kell back towards the canyons.

Arielle couldn't help but smile, she had missed this kind of fighting. She missed the ability to just throw herself into the fight and use pure strength and skill, to use her bullets as a means to weaken forces in front of her for those behind her as she charged on, killing and maiming without pause as she ripped into the Fallen.

Everything that crossed her line of sight, was hit, be it a killing blow or a glancing injury, she never missed, feeling the energy build and coil in her chest and arms, gathering with each kill and injury she caused as she moved.

Uldren wisely did not let himself get ahead of Arielle as she moved, he'd worked beside her long enough to know that when she started to gather energy like this, he was less likely to get caught in the energy if he was at least a step behind her and judging by the smile on her face, she was not only enjoy this freedom again, but she was also going to cause massive damage.

"Fight back you fools!" Virixis snarled in fury. "Fight back!"

"Arielle."

The Warlock dipped her head in understanding, crossing her arms over her chest and with an all mighty bellow, released the lightning from within and created a broken and cracked circle on the surface of Calisto.

The battle field feel into silence, the Fallen having taken cover cowering in the canyon behind their Kell and two of his Captains while the Awoken fleet and Guardians stood ready to attack should they be needed.

Arielle and Uldren stepped aside as the Queen stepped forwards from the smoke and dust Arielle had kicked up, she waited as the Kell and his Captains regained their vision from the sudden brightness and took some great delight in the look of shock that crossed their faces when they saw her cloak.

{"You wear my House's cloak."} Virixis stated.

{"She cannot understand us my Kell, do not waste your breath."} Irxis said.

Arielle chuckled and began to crack her knuckles while Uldren toyed with his knife, a silent challenge that had come up with in their earliest days together, while their Queen spoke they would show their loyalty to her in silent threats and challenges to anyone who dared to try and seek a way passed them.

"We understand you perfectly, Irxis Wolf Barron," the Queen stated taking delight in the confused and shocked faces of many Fallen around her. "And this is the Banner of the House of Wolves that proceeded you, they came to my Reef and plotted to destroy it, but I will not allow it."

{"How do you speak our Tongue!?"} Irxis snarled in rage.

"You are not the only ones to visit my Reef from your world." The Queen stated and brought her hand up to a handle of a sword, slowly drawing the blade from its sheath.

The handle of the blade was wrapped in soft purple and golden silk that seemed to flutter in an unseen vacuum that kept the blade silent as it was drawn, the blade itself was made of a pure Awoken metal, gave off a strange eerily chilling blue glow from its edges, but down the core of the blade, was an unbearably hot aura.

"I have killed you before, Virixis, Kell of Wolves. And I can do it again, but this time, I shall make it far more painful, for the sins you have committed against my home in your own wretched world, you shall die at the Sword of Tri-herba." She vowed.

Arielle knew that blade well, forged by the rulers of the Awoken Centuries ago, passed down from ruler to ruler until it was lost to the greed and hording nature of the Taishibeth that tried to claim the Reef. Mara Sov and her brother, according to the stories, had gone in to the Raven's nests alone before she had been named Queen and they alone had returned, carrying the stolen sword.

Nothing could break this sword and none survived its deadly cut.

{"You're pathetic toys cannot scare us!"} Irxis snarled.

"Then allow me to sharpen her bite on your hides." The Queen said, with an almost sweet smile. "Come."

Parixas and Irxis charged forwards, meeting Uldren and Arielle head on as their challenge was accepted while Mara Sov and Virixis began to circle each other as the fighting continued around them.

Rose slammed her knife into the head of a Dreg and cut the throat of a Vandal with ease, letting the energy flow through her as she moved, cutting and slicing the Fallen as they came at her until at last the energy left her and she felt someone grab her by the neck of her cloak and yank her backwards out of the line of fire and into the safety of a very large purple dome.

"You ok?" Petra asked.

"I think-Oh tickly again…" Rose said trying to clear her head while shaking it. "How does Arielle get over this so fast?" She asked.

"Practice." Vlad said realizing Rose was in no shape to leave the protection of the dome he took up a defensive crouch next to her. "Stay low, we got this." He assured.

"Ok…" Rose nodded, though she still tried to clear her head of the shakes as she held her scout rifle ready, glad of the bubble that protected them from the worse of the Shrapnel from Skolas' weapons.

"Servitors down! Comm Arielle and the others!" Orion yelled.

"Arielle? Vakarian? Variks? Anyone out there?" Bing called over the comms, "We have a big Fallen Captain in these Tunnels and I think we made him mad."

 _~ "What does Captain look like?" ~_ Variks asked.

"Big, very big! With a large crest like thing and two spikes on his back, he's wearing a mask over his mouth and there are orange things hanging form it." Bing answered.

 _~ "I shall inform Arielle." ~_ Variks stated.

"Bing says they found Skolas!" Vakarian stated.

"Where?" Arielle asked while driving punch after punch rapidly into Parixas's face and head.

"In the tunnels." Vakarian confirmed. "And he says they made him mad."

"Tell the boys to get that fucker up here so I can kill him again." Arielle said driving her knee into Parixas's chin before back flipping away from him and landing with silent grace, sparing a moment to glace at her Queen and her opponent.

The two were almost a blur of movement, cloaks acting as a fabric barrier as sword met claws and guns, bullets seeming to have melted upon leaving the barrel of the Kell's guns while the Queen's side arm remained at her side, untouched as she twisted and swept the blade with the same grace and skill Arielle had seen her use in those few hours when Mara had allowed her to observe her practice.

She looked to Uldren and saw the Prince had thrown his usually careful and calculated stance to the winds as he and Irxis fought like brawlers, fists and feet moving and swiping blows that made bones shake and crack landing upon them both as the two moved constantly, each trying to gain the upper hand.

For a second their eyes met and Uldren shook his head. He needed no help in this fight.

{"Do not take your eyes off me!"} Irxis snarled in fury as she swung at Uldren again.

 _~ "Delivery!" ~_ A voice yelled across the comms and from under the feet of the Awoken army, a very large and familiar Fallen was knocked into the sky and then fell unhindered to the ground.

"Nice hit." Vlad said dusting his hands off as Orion stood rubbing his knuckles, having punched Skolas with his best hand and knocked him out of the cave roof and out into the battle.

"Damn fool! You nearly brought the cave in on us!" Petra growled helping Rose to her feet now the Hunter was able to stand again.

"Could have, but didn't, now, where'd he land?" Orion asked. "Arielle will be pissed if I killed him with that."

"You didn't." Wrex said. "He's still pissed with us." He added.

"Ok, so we just make sure he's tender when Ari gets him." Vlad chuckled. "Come on."

"Looks like the Party started without us." Sovereign stated with something like a chuckle.

"Fucker! Get back here!" Orion snarled as Skolas seemed to vanish away. "Son of a bitch!"

"Well, we have plenty of Fallen to go around." Vlad smiled. "Hey Orion! First one to hundred dead Fallen choses our next destination." He called.

"You're on!" Orion shouted needing something to kill now he had lost Skolas

"Rose…" Bing said quietly as Rose dropped to a knee and took aim at a Vandal trying to snipe from the rocks. "Rose."

"Just a sec Bing." Rose assured reloading her rifle and slammed the butt into the face of a Dreg and then finished it with her knife. "What's up?"

"On the cliffs! Look!" Bing said and Rose turned, scanning the cliffs and spotting three Fallen Walkers stomping into place. "How do we get up there?"

"Easy, but you are not gonna like it." Rose said, seeing a shaky pathway to get to a suitable place.

"I don't like this plan." Bing admitted.

"That's why you aren't staying out here. Come on." Rose said taking hold of Bing and pulling him into her armour.

Petra saw the Ghost flutter away and then watched as Rose took off running through the battle field, using her scout rifle and knife to cut her way past the Fallen that didn't move in time before she started to scramble up a broken wall of rocks and jumped to a less than safe ledge seconds before it fell she jumped again and pressed herself into the limited cover it gave her.

"Cover Fire!" She yelled seeing what she was doing, and seeing the Fallen already trying to bring her down. "Cover the Hunter!" She yelled again and hit her comms. "Arielle you got three walkers above you! Watch your ass!" she warned.

"Understood." Arielle said. "Uldren! Walkers up top!" she yelled.

"Oh joy." Uldren growled, and took a moment to serve the situation, Arielle was whipping the floor with Parixas for lack of a better words; she had knocked his weapons out of his reach and was taking her sweet time beating the Captain brutally with her fists. He and Irxis were still brawling, they were evenly matched at the moment, unable to gain an advantage or ultimately end their fight and it was becoming tiresome. Through the small gaps and split seconds he was able to catch a glimpse of his Queen through the fabric dome she and Virixis had formed as they found he could see no injury to her but he knew she had landed at least one solid hit to the Kell, the Fallen blood at their feet proved that.

Something tickled the back of his neck and he had just enough time to roll out of the way as the ground where he had been stood erupted in shrapnel and dirt.

"Your dance partner is here." He stated.

"Good." Arielle growled and grabbed Parixas's head, twisting it violently to the left.

The snap that echoed seemed to anger the Baroness and Skolas, both of whom gave a savage snarl while Irxis tried to charge Arielle only for Uldren to sweep her legs and once again become to focus of the Baroness' fury.

{"You will suffer for that, Guardian."} Skolas hissed.

"I've heard that before." Arielle hissed back. "Vakarian."

"Got it." The Ghost pinged.

Orion and Vlad looked up as they heard a familiar melody echo from their comms as they covered Rose as she fired on the Walkers above the Queen alongside several other Snipers. "Ari's mad." The Titan said.

"Very mad." Vlad nodded taking out his rocket Launcher. "Rockets!" he yelled in warning as he fired at the exposed heating coils on the first Walker, watching it stagger and fall from the cliff edge. "Whoooo!"

"One down two to go! Keep on 'em!" Petra yelled. "For the Reef!" she bellowed as there was an echo of cheers behind her.

Rose sighed in relief and scanned the area readying to start firing on another Walker when she spotted the flutter of cloaks on the ground and several barrels aimed at the fast moving fabric of the Queen and Kell. "Oh no! Ari-AHHHH!" She screamed as a rocket slammed into the rocks beside her and brought her and part of the ledge down.

"Rose!" Vlad yelled watching the rocks hit the ground but Rose, somehow had managed to grab the cliff and stop herself from falling, those her right arm was hanging limp and smoking at her side.

"Rose! You're hurt!" Bing said in panic.

"Stay inside!" She hissed, "Stay inside my armour! You're safe there!"

"But you're hurt…" Bing said. "I can heal you!"

"Stay inside!" Rose growled. "It's not safe." She added. "Not yet."

"Rose, drop down!" Vlad yelled up. "I'll catch you!"

Rose nodded and after taking a breath to calm her nerves she let go and fell, stopping second before she hit the ground and let Vlad carry her to the safety of a rocked shelter. "What happened?"

"The Fallen are using Scorch Cannons." Vlad stated, "You ok?"

"I'll live," Rose assured. "How are we doing?" She asked.

"We're not dead, so that's good." Vlad assured. "Did you see anything else up there?" he asked.

"Lots of Fallen. The Queen's in the line of fire of snipers, you have to warn her!" Rose said.

"On it." Vlad said, opening his comm. "Arielle! Snipers above you! They're aiming at the Queen!"

"Shit!" Arielle snarled back flipping to avoid the heavy fists about to slam down on her as she switched channel. "Carpet the cliffs! Now!"

 _~ "Yes ma'am." ~_

"We got Crows incoming!" Arielle yelled in warning.

"Defenders up!" a voice yelled and many void domes suddenly appeared, quickly filling with injured Awoken as the Crow ships darted overhead, opening fire with their mounted cannons and turrets, taking out Fallen with ease but also causing the already unstable cliffs to shake and crumble.

"We must move!" Uldren yelled, seeing his Queen bring her sword in a steep arching swing and cut deep into Virixis chest again only this time she also removed one of his primary arms with her swing.

"Go!" She yelled and used the Kell as a spring board as she moved, hearing Uldren at last gain an advantage against Irxis and deliver a bone breaking blow to her face before preforming a tactical retreat behind her.

"Arielle!"

"Ari get outta there!"

Arielle growled, she wanted to end this before it become too much, she had no desire to see her world go the same way Rose's had gone, and if they lost this fight, something told her that would be the outcome and so, she would finish this fight now she had to make sure none of the Wolves survived.

She and Skolas charged each other again,

"Arielle!" Vakarian yelled. "Ari we have to go!"

"Not yet." Arielle stated.

"Ari it's not safe! We'll be crushed!" Vakarian yelled again. "Arielle!"

"You can revive me." Arielle stated coldly.

"Arielle!?" Uldren yelled. "Come on!"

"What has gotten into her?!" Petra yelled.

 _~ "The Sword is planning to end Skolas herself once again." ~_ Variks stated over the comms. _~ "She is building up her Arc Energy." ~_

"Orion?!" Vlad yelled as the Titan burst from his dome and made a beeline for Arielle, "Orion you can't build up another charge so soon!"

"Yes I can!" Orion yelled back as he ran, grabbing up small balls of light that had gathered around the edges of shrinking domes feeling the charge building again in his body as he got closer and close to Arielle. "Just a little more."

Skolas gave a bellowing, agonized howl as his body was struck from all sides, the sheer force of the impact throwing him into the rapidly falling rocks of the cliff the last thing he saw before his world went dark was the storm caller falling from the air limply.

The tingling tension of the air as the dust slowly settled made everyone uncomfortable. No one could see anything, no one knew who had lived or died. Uldren felt something tighten in his chest, his Queen was safe, but where was her Sword? Where was Arielle? He looked around the rocks looking for any sign of her.

"Sovereign?" Vlad asked as he and Rose slipped past the gathered Awoken and the Ghost bounced in a nod racing over to the pile of rocks scanning them and searching them for something only a Ghost could find while Vlad followed him.

Bing scanned and rescanned Rose's arm, even as the Hunter searched the base of the collapsed rocks for any sign of their missing friends.

"Got 'em. Start digging here!" Sovereign stated and Vlad nodded heaving lose rocks and boulders aside as he worked, hearing Bing bleeping and chiming beside him as Rose scrambled up and helped him dig, until they slide down with the rocks to show a small but clear void dome.

"Took your fucking time." Orion stated as he heaved himself out of the hole they had made. "Help me with Ari." He added and Rose reached in and carefully helped to heave the somewhat sluggish and panting Warlock from the dome.

"Are you ok?" Rose asked.

"Never better. Just very worn out." Arielle nodded with a tired smile. "You're arm." She added.

"Bing healed it, I'm ok." Rose assured. "But you look like you need a long sleep." She added.

"Nah, I'm ok." Arielle tried to say as she tried to stand up on her own and then fell back into Orion. "Oh, ok, maybe not so ok."

"You over charged," Vlad chuckled. "Not like you to get so worked up." He added.

"Hush you," Arielle said and delivered a light punch to Vlad's head.

"Ow." Vlad chuckled. "Come on, let's get out of here before the rocks fall on us."

"Might knock some sense into us if they did." Orion chuckled, helping Arielle stand again. "And who knows might even give you an excuse to change your paint job."

"Hey lay off my paint, it keeps the ladies at bay." Vlad said.

"What ladies?" Sovereign asked not so innocently and then hid behind Rose as Vlad glared at him. "Can't hurt me, you'll upset Rose." He added earing a laugh from them all.

Uldren managed to keep himself from speaking as he watched the scene from beside his Queen. It had been years since he'd seen or even heard Arielle laugh so freely, even longer since he'd seen her smile.

"She is no longer yours." His Queen stated but there was something to her words that almost, almost resembled regret.

"I," Uldren began then stopped for a long time, just watching as Arielle was tended and checked by her friends, he wanted to say something to her, but it that moment, he couldn't see any way or reason to justify is intrusion into their time.

"I understand." He said at last and bowed his head.

The Queen nodded.

 _~ "My Queen, My Kell, the Fallen are retreating. They report the dead of the Kell and his Captains." ~_ Variks stated over the comms. _~ "Your orders?" ~_

"Stay on the comms Variks and have Petra organize a party and search the rubble, I want confirmation that they are all dead." The Queen answered. "My army shall return to their ships and recover, those who are not in need of immediate care will remain on the ground until we are sure this is over."

 _~ "Yes My Queen. My Kell." ~_ Variks said.

"Come, my Shield. My Sword will return when she is rested." The Queen stated and after a powerful sweep of her blade to clean the edge of blood, she sheathed it.

"Ow, ow and ow again." Terrik groaned.

"Oh stop complaining and hold still." Zaragosa-40 said as he tended their friend. "Its just a little scratch," he added.

"It a fucking scorch cannon blast! It hurts like hell!" Terrik yelled. "OW!"

"Keep still and it won't hurt so much."

Lindor smiled, resting heavily against the Tower Wall as she panted, her team safe and so were thousands of others thanks to the fast actions of another fireteam on the way into the Tower.

The House of Devils had amassed huge numbers overnight it seemed and had charged the city walls, in a rather bold move to try and take out the tower with seemingly renewed vigour and it had only been the warning from the incoming Fire team that the Guardians had been able to swiftly respond and keep them away and drive them back after hours of fighting.

There were casualties, she knew that from the reports coming in from her Ghost, but their losses had been minor in comparison to the Fallen she'd seen them coming in waves and retreating in small groups, meaning that they would be back at another time likely to try again.

"The Vanguard were right, we are going to be facing tougher challenges now that the Darkness from Rose's world is coming here." She said.

"So what do we do? I mean if this all started because of Rose showing up, how do we stop it?" Zaragosa asked.

"I'm not sure. But right now, let's just focus on keeping the City safe and making sure no one else is hurt." Lindor said.

"Where are Arielle and the others?" Terrik asked.

 _~ "They went to the Reef to help the Queen, Rose went with them." ~_ Ikora stated over their comms. _~ "Return to the Tower, all of you, we are sending a team to replace you while you recover and heal." ~_

"Why do I get the feeling the City is about to have a huge influx of Guardians?" Terrik asked.

"Because it is." Lindor assured. "Let's go."

"Reports from the scouts indicate that Skolas, Irxis, Parixas and Virixis are dead my Queen." Petra said, "They are bringing the dead bodies here for your verification and so that Variks may confirm any differences in these wolves from the last." She added.

"Very well, insure that they are dealt with when Variks is finished with them." The Queen said. "Then go and have your injuries seen too."

"Yes My Queen." Petra nodded and bowed before leaving, passing Variks as he entered the throne room likely to give his own report.

Entering the medical area, she spotted Arielle and Orion being checked over along with Rose as Vlad carefully removed small grains of sand and dirt from Vakarian's shell with a small brush, Bing was settled in Rose's lap while Wrex and Sovereign floated overhead, content it seemed to just relax for a moment. She smiled somewhat as she watched Bing float up and inspect Rose's arm himself as her doctor finished his work and moved onto Petra, it seemed that the little Ghost was always worried for his Guardian despite the care others gave her.

"So, we beat the Wolves, now what?" Orion asked rolling his shoulders and neck slowly. "Are we just going to stay here and wait for the next attack?"

"We didn't kill all of the Wolves, so I doubt the Queen will be too happy, but knowing the history between the Reef and the Fallen, I don't doubt we will soon have more bounties to take from Petra." Vlad said nodding to her.

She nodded. "We will start hunting as soon as Variks has had a look at the dead ones to see if we need to upgrade weapons or armour." She explained. "No telling what differences these Fallen have to our normal ones."

"I don't think they are any all that different," Rose said, "just that the Fallen I know are bigger and more aggressive, and they have nasty breath." She added.

"Variks will confirm everything he needs to and then he'll likely start asking about the Fallen Houses from your world more, so if he suddenly appears at your side while you are trying to work or just as you are about to open a door you'll know what he wants. Just don't leave a door unlocked if you are working alone and he'll leave you be," Arielle said. "He walked in on me while I was adjusting a plan and nearly lost his head."

"I bet that made someone laugh." Vlad stated with a glance towards the throne room and Arielle chuckled.

"There is a reason he knocks on the doors now," She smiled.

"The Variks in our world always startled people, the fact he spoke so well and dared to tell Guardians to stop staring at the Queen was usually enough to make Guardians move on." Bing admitted. "I don't think he really liked none Awoken Guardians."

"Any reason why he liked the Awoken ones?" Orion asked.

"Because we didn't stare at the Queen and whisper about her." Rose said, "Heck one glance in her direction and we knew better than to stare, she was the Queen, the one person beside the Vanguard who could tell us what to do and we'd do it." She added.

"You'd have followed her if she asked you too? Even though you are a Hunter?" Vlad asked.

"Why does my class matter more than my race?" Rose asked, "The Queen ruled the Awoken and even though she hadn't always been so welcoming of strangers to the Reef, she didn't banish or forbid us from it and every Awoken knew that any trip to the Reef was only allowed because the Prince had his Crows watching your every move from start to finish."

"And that wouldn't have bothered you?" Vlad asked. "Knowing you were being watched at all times? No offence to those present but the Awoken Race confuses me sometimes, you live both on Earth and here in the Reef and yet there seems to be two groups of you, one for each place and you rarely seem to mix unless the Queen calls on you and even then, some of you have chosen to stay on Earth."

"Better to be watched and seen to be a visitor with no ill intention than not have someone watching and get a knife to the back if how we of the Reef live." Arielle stated and Orion nodded. "Because we live so close to the end edge of the Light's reach, many do not think we are trustworthy so we live in secrete and keep to ourselves or at least we did until after the Reef wars."

"Makes sense." Vlad said.

"And those of us who live on Earth, like me, chose to be less privet, we are more willing to co-exist with Exos and Humans because we chose to stay close to the Light and some of us do believe that as long as the Awoken are seen on earth, people will be more accepting of us and feel less like we as a whole are some kind of scary race of people that hide in the shadows like Xür and any other Agents of the Nine." Orion added. "But ultimately if the Queen calls on us, we will come and fight for her, but when she no longer needs us we leave. That way, no one argues over space and the Queen doesn't have to worry about accommodating a sudden influx of Awoken."

"Which keeps everyone happy." Petra smiled. "Speaking of the Nine, what do you think they will make of all this?"

"No idea, but knowing them, they'll be all cloak and dagger about it," Orion said, then quickly held up his hands. "No offence." He added.

"None taken." Rose said and Vlad nodded. "But to be honest, I don't think they can really do anything. I mean, the only thing I know for sure about the Nine in my world was that they had an Agent who use to sell wears in the Tower at some point and then he just, vanished." She said, "never heard much about them when I was there and what I did hear was all 'he says and she says' nothing was really certain."

"Same here, no one knows much about the Nine and the only person who could tell us anything isn't due back to the Tower for another three days." Arielle said. "And even then, he doesn't always answer the question with a straight answer."

"Like most secretive people do." Bing said. "Like that strange Exo Lady on Venus." He added.

Arielle looked at Bing, he'd mentioned an Exo Lady on Venus before but in all the footage they had watched of Rose's training, they had no seen a female Exo at all, she'd have said something but at that moment the Prince stepped into the room and waved her over.

"The Queen wishes to see the four of you." He said, "And the Balls." He added.

"He doesn't like us, does he?" Bing asked.

"No he doesn't, but I recall he isn't allowed to call us that." Vakarian said and looked at Arielle, "May I please tell him where to stuff it?"

"No. You may not." Arielle said standing and smiled as Vakarian gave an annoyed huff. "You can do it if he calls you it again before we leave. Come on."

"Thank you." Vakarian said and floated after Arielle.

"What do you think we did to make him angry?" Wrex asked Sovereign.

"I'm not sure, but he didn't look happy." Sovereign said. "Maybe he got bad news from the scouts?"

"Hush." Orion hissed softly as they entered the throne room, each Ghost respectfully taking a place beside their Guardian's heads.

The Queen was sat central in her throne with her arms resting on the armrests and her back straight rather than her usually relaxed position Vlad had seen her take in those few visits to the throne room on the outpost and she seemed unsettled with what was being told to her by Variks as the Fallen Vandal spoke quietly of something he couldn't quite make out.

She waved the Vandal back for the moment and focused on them, cold blue eyes giving away nothing as she sat with little emotion upon her face as she waited for them to come closer, though he thought he caught a small smile as she saw Arielle was walking and apparently unharmed.

"I trust you have all been tended for your injuries." She began, more of a statement than a question and after a nod from Arielle, she continued. "We have news from the field, the Wolves have scattered as they did before, but this time they have no potential Kells to follow. Thanks in no small part to your actions today and the help you gave." She said.

"It was our duty." Arielle stated and while she knew she only spoke for herself, Orion and Rose, she caught Vlad's slight dip of the head in the corner of her eye to show he counted himself in that statement.

There was silence for a time and Arielle realized something wasn't being said. "What's happened?" She asked.

"We have heard of a second attack, much larger and greater against the City by the House of Devils." The Queen stated and heard a soft but alarmed bleep from one of the Ghosts, "There were minor loses to your fellow Guardians, but the House of Devils is still a large threat." She added.

"They must have blocked all comms from the City." Sovereign said, "No way Ikora, Cayde and Zavala wouldn't have commed at least one of us to say something had happened." He added.

"There was mention of damage to the communication device, but it is being fixed from what Variks could make out of the broken message we are receiving," Uldren said. "They have begun to broad cast a looped message, likely to test their signal and channel security."

Arielle looked at Variks, who opened a loud comm.

 _~ "Can anyone *static* Ikora Ray of Tower one. *hiss-pop-pop-hiss* Vanguard calling all Guardians. Please respond… All Guardians *static-hiss-pop-pop* House of Devils at-t-tack. On the Walls. All Guardians please respond." ~_

"If the Devils attacked the walls, they must have gotten help." Vlad said, "They haven't tried a full scale attack for two years."

"We do not think they are all the same Devils you have faced before." The Queen stated and looked at Rose. "Your information mentioned only two Houses at strength." She said.

Rose nodded. "The House of Wolves and The House of Devils. Winter and Kings were taken out by the Tai Ravens and Hunter Patrols, Exile held out until Crota woke. You saw what happened House Judgment."

"The other Houses? Rain, Stone, Scar?" Variks asked.

Rose shook her head, "According to the Variks I knew, Scar and Stone were killed off by the Kings and Winter before the Fallen reached Earth, Rain was lost in the Whirlwind."

"So there are some similarities in the history of your world and ours." The Prince said. "What else do you know of the history before you." he asked, if this Hunter could tell them of her whole history they could find what was different and insure they did not make the same mistakes and lose everything they had.

"Personally I don't know any of it, but I do have the basic history from the Speaker on Data file." Rose said and after a nod from Arielle she searched her belt pouches and opened a small data pad, "The Fallen came to Earth first, the Devils attacked and killed off everyone left in the Cosmadrone, they made it their strong hold and since then the Devils have been the last City's biggest threat on Earth. The Hive were found after a shuttle crashed on the Moon and after crew and passengers went missing they sent two fire teams in to search out the problem."

"Eris Morn." Arielle said.

Rose nodded. "Six went in but only one came out, Eris was a wreck in my world the ball she has here was tiny where I am from, no bigger than the eye of a normal Ghost and she was always warning others about what was happening on the Moon, what she knew was coming, but with the Devils attacking without pause and the call for the Awoken to go to the Reef for the Queen, the Vanguard couldn't spare the Fire teams to go and investigate right away. It was only after the Wizards started showing up on Earth that Zavala himself went to the Moon with three other Titans, in his absence we lost the walls and the Last City was over run." She explained then went back to the pad. "After Zavala's rescue from the Hell Mouth by Lord Shaxx and Lord Saladin, the war took a much worse turn the Wolves attacked the Reef with everything they had and in that battle, the Awoken forces and people were left in ruin, the Queen, Variks the Loyal, Petra Venj and a small number of her Guard were able to escape at the cost of the Prince's life and the loss of the Outpost."

"What of the Scatter?" The Queen asked.

"I have no information on that. Only Cayde and Ikora were privy to that information, Zavala was so focused on winning the Earth back he did not attended the meeting between the Vanguard and Petra about it and the Speaker was too scared to leave his room by the time the Queen arrived, trying to focus the dying light of the Traveller into a new form to try and save it."

"But it did happen." The Queen said.

"Petra mentioned it. But she never had time to tell me about it in detail." Rose nodded.

"Hmm." Uldren said thinking over all he had heard so far. "Who planned the attack to try and regain the Reef?" he asked.

"According to this, Petra, Variks and the Queen planned the attack, with the help of Eris Morn, Ikora and the Techeuns. The plan was to go in with all the fire power they could gather and act as distraction to the Wolves while the Techeuns prepared to use the Harbingers. It would have worked, if the Taishibeth hadn't swooped in and taken out the Techeuns." Vlad stated reading over Rose's shoulder. "And it was after that fight that the Queen fell into silence."

"Silence?" Uldren asked.

"She spoke only to Petra and Cayde when he brought reports about the Reef. But beyond that, the Queen spoke to no one." Rose said, "When I came to the tower for the first time, I had no idea she was there, not until I'd found Cayde and he told me to report to Petra and have my name added to the list of Awoken."

"You had a list of Awoken?" Orion asked.

"Two hundred and five Reef born ninety four Earth born including Guardians." Rose nodded. "Petra wasn't happy with the numbers but whatever she was planning it was enough to at least keep her going. Some Guardians weren't even fighting even with orders, Ikora said it was because they'd lost all hope."

"And you kept going." Uldren stated coldly and in some disbelief. "Despite your clear doom, you kept fighting." He added, wanting to see if this Hunter would crack.

"I believed we had a reason to keep fighting." Rose said. "Cayde said there was still light somewhere in the Traveler and that meant there was still hope. Hope was a reason to fight."

"Foolishness." Uldren said ignoring the glare he got from Orion and Vlad in response. "You said yourself your world knew it was doomed, why keep fighting if you know you lose?"

"Would you say the same if it was your Queen instead of the Traveler who was dying?" Rose asked and the room suddenly went very quiet, she knew she'd just verbally challenged the Prince and to anyone watching, she had also just threatened the Queen, but at that moment in time, Rose wasn't thinking about what anyone else thought, if the prince wanted to poke at her world's flaws, he was going to get the honest and raw truths from Rose even if it meant she wasn't welcome back to the Reef afterwards.

Arielle wanted to step in, but a gloved hand stopped her and instead Vlad shook his head and nodded to the Queen who rather than step in, had focused on Rose and her brother, silently listening to what was said and looked to her brother.

"A valid question," Variks said quietly then when the Prince glared at him the Queen spoke.

"You have been asked a Question, Answer it."

"My Queen?" he asked.

"You were asked a Question, to which there is a simple answer. The Queen wishes to know the answer," Mara Sov stated. "Or shall the Hunter elaborate further?" She added and turned her gaze back to Rose.

The Prince gritted his teeth and turned back to Rose himself, angry, but not willing to be beaten by the Guardian. "Explain your question girl. Carefully." He growled, wanting nothing more than to somehow cause the Hunter some pain physically.

"To the Awoken, the Queen is their leader and the reason they live, in that regard, she is the Awoken Equivalent to the Traveler. If she were the one dying, if the Reef was at the point of collapse and ruin, would you still call the will to fight for that small chance she would live foolishness?" Rose repeated her question. "Tell me, Prince Uldren, if Queen Mara Sov, your Queen and sister was the one dying of poison from the Darkness and all her people lay in ruin and despair around her, save a small handful who still fought for her name and honour, would you call their will to serve her foolishness?"

Uldren went very quiet, gritting his teeth as he realized not only had the Hunter cornered him verbally, but he was also now in a tight situation, no matter the answer, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do in private with his sister afterwards he knew that, but he also knew his answer would possibly push Arielle to remain away from the Reef again.

"Answer the Question, Uldren." Arielle said. "Or have you no words?" she asked.

"My loyalty lies with the Queen, and a sister." He said at last, knowing any other answer would not leave him in the best light of his Queen or Arielle.

"Then do not label me a fool when you know you would be no different if you were in my place." Rose stated, knowing he hadn't given her the honest answer for whatever reason.

"Please, continue your history." The Queen stated and watched as Rose searched her data file for a moment and found where she had left off, likely unaware that Variks under her instruction had already wirelessly downloaded everything from her Ghost and other devices since they had arrived and for every detail she gave, the Vandal was verifying for her with a subtle shift of weight or movement of his staff.

Despite the lack of seeing it all herself, Rose's accounts tallied up with what Variks had already read and told her and by the end of it, the Queen knew she would have a lot of work to do to keep her people and her Reef safe.

"You may return to your Tower as your fellow guardians have, but know that I may call upon you again and expect you all to answer." She said after a moment of silence waving them off.

"Of course, Your Grace." Arielle smiled and lead them out.

Variks watched them leave and then turned to the Queen and bowed, "What would you ask of me, My Queen. My Kell?" he asked.

"Prepare a message for broadcast, in your native tongue, I want these Fallen to hear their own kind that this Reef will not fall to them, not now nor ever. It belongs to me and I will not give it to anyone." She said. "And insure that the message is head by all Fallen. From Wolves to Devils, tell them we are not weak and we will fight for what is ours."

"Yes My Queen. My Kell."

"Rose, do you know what you just did?" Orion asked with a chuckle.

"Verbally challenged the Prince and threatened the Queen?" Rose answered, "I don't know what came over me…" she admitted.

"Whatever it was, it's good and it proves you aren't just going to let Uldren push you around," Arielle said smiling as she ruffled Rose's hair. "You just did something only the Queen has been able to do and make Uldren think twice about his words." She added.

"You've never done that before?" Rose asked.

"No." Arielle shook her head, "And unless I miss read the Queen's face, which I doubt, she likes you."

"Really?" Rose asked.

Arielle nodded. "We better head home, no doubt Ikora's worried about us." She added, "And maybe on the way, we might get a good chance of racing."

Bing's eye lit up and he hovered in front of Rose's face. "Please, please, please, please, please, please! I wanna see how fast our new ship goes, oh please, please can we race, please?"

Rose smiled, "If we lose you are recharging on the table."

"Deal." Bing bounced in the air.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter five. 

Hive Hunting

"We're winning!" Bing cheered as the four ships raced through the stars, "Wheeeee!"

 _~ "Come on! You two have Awoken ships!" ~_ Orion yelled.

 _~ "You said you wanted to keep using that old Ether Eater," ~_ Arielle laughed as she and Rose were neck and neck, Vlad close behind while Orion trailed a few feet behind them.

 _~ "It's a reliable ship." ~_ Orion said in his defense.

 _~ "Incoming message on all channels." ~_ Vakarian stated. _~ "It's Variks." ~_

 _~ "Let's hear it." ~_ Arielle smiled as they came out of hyper space and continued to race towards the earth.

 _~{"Heed these words well, Fallen Houses. For they will not be repeated."}~_ Variks hissed and chattered over the channels. _~{"House of Wolves is dead! Kell Virixis, Skolas the Rabid, Parixas the Howling and Irxis, Wolf Baroness slayed by the Queen and her people, The Queen has been merciful and allowed you to live, but this attack by these knew Wolves has brought a new order from the Queen. Kill. Kill them all. Kill the Wolves and bring their heads to her. And so I warn you. Run. Run and pray that the Queen's Judgement does not catch you."}~_

 _~ "He's enjoying this." ~_ Orion said.

 _~ "Yes he is." ~_ Arielle nodded.

 _~{"The Reef belongs to the Queen. And no Fallen House shall be shown mercy."} ~_ Variks ended his message, before Arielle, Orion Vlad and Rose received Bounty Alerts from Petra.

 _~ "Wow. That's a lot of Glimmer." ~_ Orion said.

 _~ "No." ~_ Arielle said, _~ "We are going to spend some time here and keep the City safe." ~_ She added.

 _~ "But that kind of Glimmer… Babe we could be set for life." ~_ The Titan said.

 _~ "No, Orion." ~_ Arielle said again. _~ "We don't need Glimmer." ~_

"We win!" Bing yelled as they reached the Tower. "Wow, they look busy." He said as they circled around and headed for the docks.

 _~ "More fun." ~_ Vlad smiled, _~ "looks like we've got a lot to do when we land, the Vanguard wants a word and so does the Speaker." ~_ He added.

"So we have to wait for a nice hot shower?" Rose asked.

"Looks that way." Arielle chuckled as she saw the Fallen House of Devils retreating from the walls. "The joys of being home." she added smiling.

"By the Traveler," Zavala said from somewhere amidst data screens, files and maps that now cluttered his desk. "We're getting incoming ship signals from as far out of Pluto, reports in from Venus and Mars about Tai Ravens showing up seemingly from thin air. The whole of Rose's universe seems to be coming through." He said.

"There had been altered areas, Warlocks are reporting increased Vex activity on Venus and that the Vault of Glass has been resealed, the doors barricaded and guarded. They appear to be focusing their attention on their Restorative a d Over Minds." Ikora explained, also going through scrolls and data feeds of her own. "How are you doing Cayde?" She asked.

"So far, so good, everyone reporting good health and all but those in the Reef are requesting information on where they can land their ships and start killing things." The Exo stated, Watson going over data files while he read and checked his maps. "We made the right call reclaiming and opening the other Towers. If my count is right we're about to increase in numbers." He added.

"You are right." Zavala said looking over his information. "We're going to be busy."

"Maybe we should bring in help?" Ikora asked.

"What do you suggest?" Cayde asked, "No offence but I don't think we'll have time to trial and pick a secondary Vanguard."

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't make this work." Ikora said. "Rose's world had a system, the young and weaker Guardians trained under the older and experienced Guardians until they were ready, Guardians teaching Guardians and it worked so I say we do that same here but in our own way."

"Go on," Zavala said listening carefully.

"We use the Towers as training schools, picking out three fireteam each week to train the younger ones, we can mix everything up, make them all work together, no matter the light level or class and we make sure no one is singled out for race or class, we teach then in unity and before they go out, we send them through the Crucible or the Iron Banner, the teams together, testing them against their teachers if they win they can leave, if not they stay on." Ikora explained.

"Makes sense." Cayde said, "And it will increase diversity in the Guardians we have too, I've stated to notice same Class Fire Teams are becoming popular and while I admit they can be useful, they aren't meant to be permanent."

"Excuse us. Coming through. Pardon us. We're home." Vlad's voice cut in as he, Orion, Arielle and Rose shuffled their way through the growing number of Guardians who were trying to get a place in the Crucible, constantly having to ask for someone to make space for them. "Man, it's crowded in here, pardon us."

"Too many people." Bing said and ducked close to Rose.

"You don't have to worry," Vakarian assured, "No one will grab you."

Bing gave an odd little ping but still stayed close to Rose as they at last got through the crowd and almost fell down the stairs.

"I trust you heard the message from Variks?" Arielle asked.

"Yes though we did not understand word of it." Zavala stated.

"Bing shared a program in the Reef that could translate the Fallen Language," Vlad stated, "The Queen's ordered the death of every House of Wolves remaining and Variks made sure every other Houses knows she is willing to kill them off too if they try to attack the Reef as well."

"What else do you have in that Shell?" Watson asked with a kindly chime as Bing ducked behind Rose in a shy motion.

"Just data streams, backed up reports and video files, some pictures and a few Coordinates we never had chance to check." Bing admitted, "Nothing special."

"All Ghosts are special." Ikora smiled. "May we also have a copy of this translation program?" She asked.

"All our Ghosts have had it installed." Vlad said as Sovereign, Wrex and Vakarian began a wireless transfer to the Vanguard's Ghosts. "You wanted to see us?" he added.

Zavala nodded and began to explain something to them, but slowly Rose realized his words were fading out and instead she was hearing a low humming sound. "Oh no… not now." She winced feeling pain start to swell in her mind.

"Rose?" Arielle asked hearing the Hunter hiss before Vlad caught her from falling. "Rose?!"

"She's ok." Bing said floating around his Guardian, "It's a memory flash," He explained as Rose held her head and gritted her teeth, grimacing as her head flooded with sounds images and noise.

"Arielle?" Ikora asked.

"She mentioned before she has flashes, memories of her old life coming back, but this is the first time I've seen her have one." The Warlock admitted as Bing began to make a soft clicking sound and Rose started to relax again. "You ok?"

"I think so… oh, that hurts." Rose groaned, rubbing her temples. "Ow, ow, ow."

"How long have you had flashes?" Cayde asked.

"Since Bing first revived me as a Guardian. First one knocked me out for an hour just after we got back to the Tower." Rose said, "Holiday found me and looked after me until I came around."

"Are they common?" Zavala asked.

"Not really. The last one I had was on Venus before we set up camp, lasted a few seconds like this one, but hurt a lot more." Rose said as Bing began to scan her from head to toe.

"Hmm, could you have died as a result of head trauma before you were revived as a Guardian?" Cayde asked.

"I have no idea. What little memory I have before being a Guardian is foggy, I know I served the Queen at some point, but I was Earth born, beyond that, I have no clues." Rose admitted as Bing settled on her shoulder and leant against her face slightly. "Thanks Bing."

"Hmmm. Maybe a full examination will help? They are useful for determining any overlapping injuries such as a continuing break of bones or asthma." Ikora said. "Many Warlocks suffer such form such injuries, but it wouldn't be uncommon for Hunters and Titans to suffer than as well."

"Kinda like Phantom Pains, Exos have them after fatal injuries like head injuries or loss of limbs." Cayde explained.

"Don't remind me." Vlad said rubbing his chest. "But an examination might help, maybe we could help you figure out what the flashes are trying to show you?"

"That would be nice." Rose nodded. "But I think we'd be waiting a while, the Tower looks like it's getting fuller." She added seeing the crowd had only gotten larger for Lord Shaxx.

"It will not last long, we are reopening the other five Towers full time now that they are ready and redirecting some of the Guardians to them." Zavala assured. "With this attack, we are calling every Guardian who was on long term patrols to push back the darkness back from the Tower and facing this new threat head on."

"Then for now Vlad why don't you take Rose to see the Speaker than tomorrow morning take her down for an examination while we talk, Sovereign can stay here and record the whole thing for you" Cayde smiled.

"Aye sir." Vlad smiled and lead Rose out of the room Bing close behind them.

"Sir?" Orion asked.

"We have been monitoring Venus, the Reef and other areas Rose's world reported high activity of Fallen, Hive, Cabal, Vex and Tai Ravens. In each area we have been give reports of increased activities with each race and a strange Rip that seems to just allow them to come and go for a few hours before closing again, the Vex are the only ones with a permanently open rip that we know of." Ikora explained, "We are going to be busy and we need to know Rose can be trusted to obey orders."

"You doubt her?" Arielle asked with a growl. "After all she has given you, the information she gave you without hesitation and all she's been through you doubt her?"

"No Arielle, we believe what she says is true, but she has lost her world and all she knew to the darkness, how can we be sure that has not affected her mentally? Or that the loss hasn't allowed something else to change within her?" Ikora asked. "Something we can't hear or see coming?"

"You mean like Eris?" Orion said with a huff. "Come on, Rose is a kid who lost everything, she wasn't faking those tears you saw and she wasn't faking the injuries we saw in the Vault of Glass when we found her, she's hardly some kind of evil force that brought this darkness to us." He added.

"How do we know that?" Zavala asked calmly, taking the angry glares as both Orion and Arielle opened their mouths to speak then stopped realizing that they had no answer to that question. "You have worked with her for only a short time, but have either of you felt or seen her light? Have you noticed any change?"

"She is getting stronger." Arielle said in an attempt to give Rose some defense. "And, we aren't Hunters, we can't see her light like Cayde or Vlad can." She added looking to Cayde in hopes he could defend Rose.

The Hunter Vanguard sighed, folding his arms over his chest as he spoke, leaning more towards Arielle and Orion than his fellow Vanguard members. "Her light wasn't increasing when you took her before, not at the same rate as you had hoped, taking her into the Prison could have been a disaster had she been any weaker." He said shaking his head, "But on her return that day and today, her aura and light have grown rapidly… it maybe that despite her world being lost, Rose still has a lingering connection to her world and thus, her light will only increase if she kills those from her world, though how long that will last I do not know."

"So what do we do?" Arielle asked, "We can't just start accusing her of causing all this." She added.

"We don't plan too, but if we are to trust her, it must be proven that she can be trusted." Zavala said. "And we believe we know how to do that." He added and Arielle saw Cayde shake his head as he leant away from the table. He was not happy about this.

Meanwhile Vlad had waited at the foot of the stairs to the platform the Speaker was stood on while Rose went up to see him, Bing hovering by her head with a happy chiming coming from his shell as he twisted and turned.

"Speaker?" Rose asked quietly as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Ah Guardian, I am glad you came so quickly." The old man said turning to face her, "I have finished that Shell you requested and Arielle has already transferred the Glimmer needed for it," He added and pulled a freshly crafted Ghost shell from a small box on his desk.

"Thank you, Speaker." Rose smiled and lightly caught Bing in her hand as he dropped from the air, an excited buzzing filling the air. "What do you say?"

"Thank you Speaker." Bing repeated.

"Such a polite Ghost." The Speaker said as his own Ghost hovered beside him, the new shell was an off white colour, with carefully details edges on the panels that had a soft blueish grey pattern over them, like little sparks or flakes of snow. "I hope it serves you well." He said opening the new shell carefully.

Bing smiled and allowed his old shell to open before moving his core into the new one, feeling the new shell fill his core with a fresh warmth as he adjusted to it and slowly he began to hover again. "I feel lighter."

"This Shell is made from the finest of my metals and the details are designed to help you focus your light more." The Speaker explained as the Ghost floated up and adjusted his new shell chiming and beeping happily. "I am glad you like it."

Rose smiled as Bing circled her, "Looks good on you Bing."

"It feels so much nicer, and it doesn't lag my vision." Bing chimed happily, "This is awesome!"

"Rose." Vlad called up, waving them down.

"We better go, thank you again Speaker." She said and with a respectful nod she headed back down the stairs, Bing chattering all the way.

Vlad smiled, "Nice shell Bing."

"Thanks, it feels so much lighter and less cramped in here." The Ghost seemed to beam, "Do you think we can keep my old shell Rose, maybe as a memory?" he asked.

"I'm sure we can," Rose smiled, "But for now, let's go back and see what the Vanguard wants us to do next."

"No need." Vlad said, "Arielle commed, they want us to get some rest and later, while Arielle is busy with Lindor and some other Warlocks doing a thing for Ikora, you me and Orion are gonna head to Venus and do some looking around. According to some reports there are some new Vex there that are causing some trouble." He said.

"But why can't we go now?" Rose asked looking around, "Its only midmorning, and they said to go for an examination..." she added.

"And we just got back from a run at the Reef, you've been awake almost 24 hours straight and unlike me, you need some sleep. Trust me, if we rush off now you'll be an easy target when the tiredness catches up to you." Arielle smiled and as came over to them from the crowd, "Nice Shell," She added seeing Bing.

"Thanks to you," the Ghost said. "Thank you Arielle. It means a lot."

"Don't mention it." She smiled, "Now come, we'll get some sleep and then later we'll go for your examination and then get on with what the Vanguard wants."

"Ok." Rose smiled.

"You two go on ahead, I have some bounties to turn in." Vlad smiled waving them off as he headed to the Bounty board, finding Orion was already there waiting for him they headed to the back of Traveler's Walk. "I do not believe this."

"I'm sorry Vlad, but Zavala wants proof and he is the Commander."

"He's being an ass." Vlad growled, "She's lost everything and they want her to prove she's trust worthy by sending her into the Vault just to see if she can somehow make things worse or if she's targeted just like anyone else."

"He's the boss. And his question is a good one… Even with all Rose has given us, how do we know she isn't corrupted or worse?" The Titan asked.

"Eris would have sensed it." Vlad said. "She's got more knowledge about that kind of thing than anyone I know and she hasn't said a word about Rose. Heck she smiles at her every time we go past." He added.

"I know Vlad. But that isn't enough for Zavala. And really, I don't think it's enough for the Speaker or some of the others either." Orion said, "The Dead Orbit reps been watching Rose like a damn hawk every time we go to our ships and so have the FWC. They want to approach her when she's alone and we both know what that could lead to."

"Tell me you slipped Holiday extra Glimmer." Vlad asked, not wanting to think what the two rival fractions would do to Rose if either got their hands on her.

"Cayde's already got that covered." Orion nodded. "Believe me I don't wanna do this anymore than you do, but we have to do it."

"If she gets hurt, I'll damn well tear Zavala a new ass hole." Vlad growled.

"Get in line, Arielle's planning on tearing him limb from limb if Rose is hurt." Orion stated looking at the woodland below the Traveler's Walk.

"I am not in agreement of this." Cayde stated looking over the plan Zavala and Ikora had given Orion and Vlad to take Rose on. "I cannot believe you two want her to do this."

"We have to know who she is, Cayde." Ikora said. "She could be carrying some kind of Darkness with her, weather she knows it or not, we have to be sure."

"She LOST everything Ikora, everything she knew, trusted and lived for, the people she cared for, gone and you are worried she might be carrying some kind of Darkness?! What more do you want her to lose? Her sanity!?" The Exo demanded, bringing his fist down against the table. "You won't do this is it was a Warlock or a Titan." He added.

"A Titan and Warlock are not known to travel alone so often, Cayde-6." Zavala said sharply, though he knew it was a low blow it was the truth. "We have no way of knowing for sure how trust worthy she is, the lack of light in her is worrying and all the sudden increases of our enemies is too much to be called a coincidence. We have to test her." He stated.

"And if she becomes a broken mind?" Cayde asked in angry. "She isn't an Exo like me, you can't just send her down to the repair bay if her mind breaks and she can't give her a fancy set of pills to fix her mind like a human. She'll be wreck if this plan of yours goes up shit creek and she will be worse than Eris when she came out of the Hive."

"Eris recovered." Ikora said trying to keep her voice even.

"Rose isn't Eris." Cayde declared. "She's a kid, a young mind who has been thrown in to the deep end of a shit storm and then yanked into our world and had to watch her world die. If she cracks, she won't heal. She'll never recover and she will never be the same. And it will be on your hands." He stated and stormed from the room. "I will have no part of this."

"Cayde!" Zavala called after him.

"Let him go." Ikora said, "He's only looking out for her as any Hunter would." She added.

"So that was a memory flash you had?" Arielle asked as Rose dried her hair on a towel.

"Yes, that was a flash." Rose nodded. "I'm not sure it was the same as the others I have, but I think I know why I was on earth when I died now."

"Oh?" Arielle asked.

"I was visiting someone, family I think. I heard the word Mother a lot and I remember watching children, just playing games and running around. But they weren't mine." Rose said. "I think I was on earth visiting family when I died, I just don't know how I died."

"Maybe the examination will help you figure it out." Arielle smiled, "Now what says we settle down for a good nap?" She added.

"I don't feel like I need sleep." Bing said.

"We can try," Rose smiled, "It will give your systems time to adjust fully to a new shell." She added.

"Ok. But I'm staying here." Bing stated from his place on the pillow. "It's comfy." He added.

"Alright," Rose smiled and settled down, "Night Arielle."

"Good night Rose." Arielle smiled as she laid on her bed, closing her eyes and waited silently. A few minutes later she sat up and looked at Rose, finding the Hunter had dropped into a deep sleep almost instantly and Bing's optic was flickering off as he too drifted off into recharge.

Vakarian floated over to her and hovered over her. "You aren't happy with this, are you?" he asked quietly.

"I am not." Arielle said. "She's a kid and we are the same race. There is no way I'd have missed something wrong with her and there is no way the Queen would keep it from me… Rose hasn't got the age or skill behind her to hide her thoughts from Mara or Eris. Why can't Ikora accept that?"

"Because she's human." Vakarian said, "Ikora and Zavala need more than just the word of others, they need to see it and in their eyes, if Rose can last in the Vault of Glass and do it alone she is trust worthy."

"Why alone? Why there?" She asked. "Rose isn't some kind of evil force that will kill us when we aren't looking."

"I don't know, but it's what they want and if she gets hurt, we both know Cayde will have the Commander dead to rights for misuse of authority and Ikora will be getting her own tea for a while." Vakarian said chuckling softly. "Get some sleep, we're gonna need it if we're gonna help her."

"Your right." She smiled. "Night Vakarian."

"Good night Arielle."

The day slowly passed without any fatalities, Guardians from all corners of the universe returned to the City and took up residence in the Towers before going off to hunt the Fallen House of Devils and the House of Wolves, old friends were reunited and spared their time to help new and younger Guardians around the Tower and learn the ropes.

Eventually the Rose woke and stretched rubbing the back of her neck as Bing came on line and hovered up with a soft chime. "Wow… Arielle was right. We did need sleep."

"Warlocks are always right." Rose yawned. "At least, the nice ones are."

Bing bleeped and bounced slightly in the air. "So, what shall we do? Arielle's already gone." He said and Rose looked back to see Arielle wasn't there.

"I guess we better go find Vlad and Orion… but first, we make the bed." Rose smiled, getting up and dressed before neatly folding the blanket ready for the next time it was to be used and fluffed the pillow.

"Do you think Vakarian and Arielle left in a hurry? They didn't leave a note." Bing said.

"They said they had something to do for Ikora, maybe it was something only a warlock could do? Then there would be no reason for her to leave us a note." Rose said, smoothing the blanket out softly.

"Should we leave them one?" Bing asked and Rose chuckled, finding a small pad and a pen she jotted down a short note.

"Went to find Vlad and Orion, hope you had success with the task Ikora set you and we will back when we are done. From Rose and Bing." She read off, "Happy?"

"Yes." Bing bleeped as they left the room. "Where do you think they will be?" he asked.

"Well, Vlad's a Hunter, so he might be at the Bounty Board, or they'll be in the ship hanger." Rose said. "But we still have to go for that examination." She added as they came out into the sunlight and Rose looked around. "Wow… it got busy while we were sleeping."

"Rose! Bing!" Vlad called from somewhere as Wrex and Sovereign hovered over the crowd of Guardians. "Over here!"

"Lots of people…" Bing said and hovered closer to Rose.

"You'll be ok," Rose smiled "This isn't like home remember."

"Still… lots of people." Bing repeated as he floated practically against her helmet as she moved closer to Vlad and Orion.

"You look rested." Orion smiled.

"We didn't keep you long did we?" Rose asked.

"Nah, I've got a few things to do before we go. So Vlad can take you for that examination now and then we'll meet up in the Hanger and get gone. That ok?" Orion asked.

"Sounds good." Rose nodded and followed Vlad as he lead the way down into a much quieter area of the Tower where Guardians were being tended by doctors for pains, aches and other none fatal but still problematic injuries that their Ghosts could not heal, injuries that were from the life before their time as Guardians.

"Have you been down here before?" Rose asked.

"Most Exos are regulars here." Vlad nodded. "We need a monthly scan, debug and system check, sometimes we can't do it alone so we come here. It's none invasive and anything found here can be fixed or changed, heck we can ever get system upgrades if we need them."

"They don't hurt?" Rose asked.

"Not if they are done right." Vlad assured. "Ah, here we are the Neuro, Optical and Bone Surgery wards." He said opening the door for her before politely tapping a small bell on the desk on a table.

"Ah Vlad, you are in early, you're not due a check for another two weeks." A kindly female human doctor stated as she came in holding a clip board. "And… Whom might this lady be?" She asked looking down her list of names.

"Rose, she's new here, very new." Vlad said, "She needs a mental examination if you have a moment?" he added.

"Ah, so this is the new Hunter Cayde-6 told me about, do come through dear, he's here already." She said and waved them over, leading them to a small curtained area where Cayde was sat on the edge of a bed, his cloak and shirt removed as another Exo carefully moving and reconnecting wires for his right shoulder and arm while another doctor carefully worked on his helm area.

"Afternoon." The Vanguard greeted with a slight wince.

"What happened to you?" Vlad asked.

"I had an argument with a wall." Cayde said with what sounded like an attempt at humour. "Ow."

"He skipped he last two check-ups. Now he's having a whole system check and we are upgrading the out dated systems and rewiring the parts that need it." The doctor stated. "The Argument he's talking about what the fact he walked into the wall next to his door this morning and he's been in here ever since."

"You're a real buzz kill doc-Ow." Cayde winced again before rolling his shoulder. "Rose here gets memory flashes, Ikora thought an examination would help her understand what causes them and why she has them."

"I see, well, if you would take a seat and we'll get started." The doctor nodded while making some notes on her clipboard while Rose did as she was asked and settled on a chair, smiling as Bing settled on her lap.

Vlad took a step back, watching as the Doctor carefully placed a portable C.T Scanner over Rose's head and after pressing a few buttons and adjusting the scanner as she asked Rose a few questions.

"Do you have any pains before or after you have these flashes?" The doctor asked.

"The first time I had a flash I was knocked out by it, but the ones after it have all been small and haven't really hurt so much as just given me a really bad head ache for a few minutes after they finish." Rose stated, blinking somewhat as the light from the scanner.

"How many have you had so far and how common are they?" the doctor asked.

"I've had five so far, but they aren't very common, the last one was this morning and lasted about two minutes, the one before that happened on Venus just before I settled down for a nap." Rose explained.

"And the other three?" the doctor asked.

"First one was in the Tower lasted about an hour, the second one was during a run with J-Cey and Ace on the Moon, that one lasted about ten minutes the third one was just after we reached the Black snake camp site, that one lasted five minutes." Rose said.

"They sound serious," the Doctor said, "Do you have any memory of what happens when you have these flashes?"

"No, I don't know what's happening to me, but I do know that I end up falling over when I have them," Rose explained.

"She would have fallen if Vlad hadn't caught her for the last one." Cayde stated as his panelling was replaced and reattached. "Thank you."

"Well, as long as you are not alone if you ever have them again you should be safe and by the sound of it they are not terribly harmful towards you, so we can prescribe you some pain killers for your head aches." The doctor stated as the C.T Scanner finished its work. "I'll contact you when the results are in, but until then I can only suggest that you stay with someone just in case you have more flashes."

"Thanks Doctor." Rose said as the scanner was lifted and removed from her head.

"Don't thank me yet, it may be something serious." The doctor said.

"Or it might be nothing." Cayde said. "Go one have fun kids," He added waving them off.

"Where are we going on Venus?" Bing asked as they followed Vlad out.

"Ikora said reports were from the Waking Ruins, so we'll start there." Vlad said.

"Waking Ruins?" Rose asked suddenly feeling very worried.

"What's wrong?" Vlad asked.

"The Waking Ruins is… was, a Tia Raven Nesting site on the Venus I knew." Rose explained.

"Well, according to the reports, we just have lots of Vex there, but we'll keep an eye out for Ravens too, ok?" Vlad said offering her his hand. "Come on, we'll go find Orion and head off sooner we get this done, sooner we can come back and bug Cayde for some new armour and helmets. Sound good?"

"You could just ask him nicely." Rose said taking his hand.

"Yea but it's more fun to bug him first." Vlad chuckled as he walked with her to the docks.

"I do not like this." Arielle said. "I really do not like this." She repeated.

"Duly noted." Zavala stated. "But we must know."

"If she gets hurt because of this, so help me I'll forget you're the Commander." Arielle growled. "She shouldn't have to do this, she's just a kid!"

"The Vex are the only ones who could tell us more about Rose and they refuse to share more, at least if she goes in there we can see how the Vex react to her and through the information we already have determine whether or not Rose can be trusted." Zavala said, letting the threat go for now.

He knew this was not a fair choice, nor was it right of him, but he had to make certain that this Hunter could be trusted whole and unquestionably, as cruel as it seemed of him to send her to Venus and let events play as they could, he had to be sure. He had a city to protect, a city that was under threat constantly by Darkness and now, it seemed that Darkness was getting stronger and threats could come from anywhere. Even from the seemingly innocent.

And if protecting the City meant he was seen as the villain of the Vanguard by everyone else, then so be it. He would be the villain and the cruel one, he would be the cold unbending steel while Ikora's motherly care soothed the tears and Cayde's brotherly nature made the spirits lift.

That was his duty as Commander and he would for fill it.

Arielle wrung her hands, watching carefully through Wrex and Sovereign as they left the Tower, idle chatter between the three of them, where they were going, why they were going, what the problem was and why it was a problem.

All the while, Arielle wanted nothing more to answer the comms and tell them to abort mission, to tell Rose it wasn't safe and give her some kind of warning, but Ikora had already given her blessing to this mission and while she knew Ikora would never agree to something that could kill a Guardian, she knew this mission was risky but she knew that Orion and Vlad could keep Rose safe.

And yet Arielle couldn't shake the feeling something terrible would come of this mission. Something that would hurt not only Rose, but also test the Vanguard as well and so she looked towards the only soul she knew who could watch for the unseen threats and found Eris stood beside her.

"Will she be alright?" Arielle asked.

"As long as she has light, she will survive." Eris said.

 _~ "Wait a minute." ~_ Vlad said over the comms, bringing Rose out of her thoughts.

 _~ "What is it Vlad?" ~_ Orion asked as they began to fly over the Cosmadrone.

 _~ "Something is wrong. The Fallen aren't in this area anymore," ~_ the Exo said pulling his ship around for a second pass. _~ "We better check this out." ~_

"What about Venus?" Rose asked.

 _~ "Venus can wait. There's a Trans-Mat zone not far from here." ~_ Orion said as he led their flight down towards the landing zone.

 _~ "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" ~_ Sovereign asked as they landed and their ships went back to orbit.

"You have a bad feeling about everything." Bing stated, blinking to life beside Rose's head. "Though with Wrex and Orion always running head first into deadly situations, I can't blame you." He adds and then ducked out of the way of a playful tap.

"Cheeky." Orin chuckled, "Well, let's go see why the Fallen are missing." He added and practically bounced in his steps to search for Fallen or what had caused them to go missing.

"Maybe they all packed up and went into hiding?" Rose offered. "Variks' message was creepy." She added.

"If it was that easy, we'd have been winning this battle years ago." Vlad said, bowing and waving ahead of him. "M'lady."

Rose chuckled. "Thank you kind sir."

Sovereign gave a roll of his eye and floated after them, "Come on Bing, let's make sure the love birds don't get lost." He said.

"What's a love bird?" Bing asked and the older Ghost reminded himself that Bing wasn't as versed in such things as him and Wrex.

"Arielle and I are love birds. It's a term for people who like each other a lot, but haven't gotten around to making it official with a ring yet." Orion explained looking back over his shoulder.

"Oh! Like Cayde-6 and Eris Morn." Bing said loudly then blinked his eye as everyone laughed. "What?"

"Oh, Bing." Rose smiled trying to regain her composure from laughing so much. "Oh, never mind, I'll explain later."

"Oh, ok." Bing said and landed on Rose's head. "I'll wait here." He added and Rose smiled, following Orion and Wrex as they headed off towards where there should have been Fallen.

"What are they doing?" Zavala asked trying to maintain a calm tone.

"Inspecting an area where there should be activity but there is none." Ikora said, "Let us see how this plays out Zavala. It may not be Venus, but it may prove to be acceptable as a test of Rose's loyalty." She added.

Zavala did not look pleased but said nothing, watching over the screen as Orion led the way, passing places where there should have been Fallen, only to find scattered ruins of walls and buildings, torn down Devil Banners.

"This isn't right." Vlad said as Sovereign scanned the area. "Where are the Fallen?"

"Maybe they're on the attack against the City Walls?" Rose suggested.

"Sh." Orion hissed softly and Rose listened soon hearing what sounded like music. "That's not good." The Titan said.

"What is it?" Bing asked.

"That music is Rasputin and old war mind that helps us defend the Last City. That last time he played that music he was in some real trouble with the Hive." Vlad stated.

"But the Hive aren't on Earth." Orion said. "Not anymore… we drove them to the Moon and then we chased them and their Hive God back from Saturn with the Awoken."

"Maybe that's where the Fallen are?" Rose suggested. "It would explain why they aren't here."

"Maybe," Orion nodded looking at Wrex, "Sparrow."

"Rose, you ride with me. My Sparrow will be faster than yours." Vlad stated as the two sparrows appeared.

Rose nodded and climbed on behind Vlad, Bing returning to her armour as they took off. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling." Bing admitted.

Arielle watched as five messages appeared on the screen, two from Vlad, two form Orion and one from Rose.

 _'Cayde. Lack of Fallen activity near entrance to Rasputin. War mind playing music again. Checking it out. Vlad.'_

 _'Zavala. Something closer to home came up, checking on Rasputin. Reschedule Venus. Orion.'_

 _'Cayde. Checking a war mind that plays music in the Cosmodrome, sorry not on Venus, Orion said we should check this out first. Rose.'_

 _'Ikora. Send Arielle. Vlad.'_

 _'Ikora. Send Arielle. Now. Orion.'_

"Zavala." Ikora said evenly.

"We wait until we know what the trouble is." The Commander said.

"Ikora." Arielle pleaded, she felt something twisting in her gut, something was wrong and she had to be there.

"We must let this play out, Arielle. She is safe with your team." Ikora said trying to sound assuring.

Arielle growled. "You wouldn't do this to another Warlock."

"Her class is nothing to do with this." Ikora stated.

"Then why does it feel that way?" Arielle asked and Ikora went silent. There was no answer to the question because truthfully, there was no nice way to say what she knew was a shared view by thousands.

"Eris, come, be our voice with them." Ikora said as she turned to Eris who nodded and began to open the comm channel.

"Guardians. Ikora has asked me to speak in her place as she is busy with Arielle and her Warlocks." She explained.

 _~ "Eris have you sense anything Hive-like on earth recently, near or around Rasputin? He's started to play that music of his again so we're going to check it out." ~_ Orion asked. _~ "We're gonna head in via Bunker RAS – 2." ~_

"I shall search the shadows. Be on your guard." Eris said and pulled away to look into her orb.

Arielle wrung her hands and watched as her team reached the hidden entrance to Rasputin from the Forgotten Shores, the music was distorted and fading, filled with terrible static.

"This isn't good." Vlad said. "The doors have been forced open from the outside by something big."

"Too big to be the Fallen." Orion said, "Hope you brought lots of ammo, kid." He added looking at Rose.

She nodded. "Bing stay close." She added.

"I will." He assured.

They made their way inside the bunker, listening to the now distorted and haunting music as their Ghosts provided light in the once well-lit walk ways. Rose shuddered as the air around them started to feel smothering and hot, and the smell of rot and death filled the air.

She stopped as their Ghosts' light reached a familiar barnacle like mess that clung to the walls and seem to ooze darkness and simulate breathing, nearby they could hear the clear sound of chewing and hissing Thralls.

"Hive." Vlad said quietly. "Just fucking great." He hissed and spotted a half-eaten Fallen limb. "And now we know where the Fallen went." He added.

"You said it." Orion said tapping his comm link again. "Eris, we got Hive inside Rasputin in the Seraphim Vault corridor." He stated.

 _~ "Do not let them reach Rasputin. I am contacting Arielle and another Fire team to assist you at once." ~_ Eris said over the comms.

"So, we kill Hive until they get here?" Rose asked.

"Basically." Orion nodded taking the safety off his weapons. "Let's do this."

Vlad nodded and removed the safety from his own weapons with Rose. "You remember what Arielle taught you?"

"Aim for the heads and eyes, knights can't take a punch when they hold their shields up and yell at Orion when he steals kills." Rose said.

"Smart girl." Vlad smiled and with a nod the three rounded the corner and opened fire on the Hive. "Remind me to ask Arielle how long the Queen will be in a bad mood when we get back, if these bastards got past her who knows what else might have come here." He said over the shooting.

"Sure, right after you remind me why I didn't go hunting already." Orion said taking a second to reload while Rose covered him. "All that Glimmer, I'd have more than enough for me and Arielle to have everything we need."

"She already has what she wants." Rose said, ducking under a Knight shot and firing back. "She loves you, you love her, your Ghosts get along, you have a stable home and you can both clearly look after yourselves. Why do you need to get her anything else?"

"Because on the Reef she had everything." Orion huffed. "Arielle was with the Prince before she left and met us… And you saw how much power he has, he could give her the life she deserves."

"But not the life she wants." Rose said. "Arielle doesn't need fancy things she said so herself, she'd rather be on the field and fighting then cooped up in some apartment." She added. "Maybe you two just need a long break. Somewhere nice and calm and then you can talk it out and make plans that don't involve tones of Glimmer and just involve you two being yourselves?"

"Vacations cost Glimmer Rose." Orion said, taking down the last Knight at the back before they moved up the stairs slowly, still killing the waves of Thrall that charged them from the top of the stairs.

"She never said a vacation." Vlad said. "I mean, no one would question it if you went off and oh I don't know, got stuck in an elevator or locked in your own room due to a power fault." He chuckled and Rose giggled.

"Very funny Vlad." Orion huffed, "Let's just get this seen too and-Whoa!"

"Shit!" Vlad hissed as the three of them dived for cover from the sudden surge of poison gas sent at them from the top of the stairs. "Not good." He hissed seeing Rose fall to her knees couching as she dragged herself out of the gas that had caught her.

"Help Rose." Orion said and Rose heard the familiar sound of crackling flames, "Come here bitches!" He snarled and charged up through the gas.

"Orion!? Damn it all wait for us!" Vlad yelled, helping Rose back to her feet. "You ok?" he asked.

Rose nodded. "Just a little smoked… I'll be ok." She wheezed.

"We got Watchers of Crota!" Orion yelled. "Little help!"

"Good?" Vlad asked.

"Good." Rose nodded and followed him up the stairs and into the Vault.

"Get out of my way!" Arielle snarled as she smashed through a line of Dregs, her arms alive with lightning as she channelled her Super towards the clear life signatures Vakarian was showing her.

She, Lindor, Zaragosa and Terrik had been forced to trans-mat in in The Steppes, as the Fallen had started to fire on their ships as they tried to land in the Moth Yards, and now she was further away from her target and that made her temper flare.

"Slow down Arielle!" Lindor yelled. "We've got plenty of time to get to them!"

"I don't have time to wait! Orion went off on him own!" Arielle yelled back.

"Vlad is still with them, Arielle, he'll protect Rose and he'll make sure Orion's still alive when we get there." Zaragosa called, "He likes that girl." He added.

"Vlad likes Rose? How can you tell?" Lindor asked.

"He smiles at her more than he does anyone else." Zaragosa stated. "He likes her."

"How much you wanna bet on that?" Terrik called.

"Shut up and kill things!" Arielle yelled. "We have to get in there!"

"Killing things, got it!" Lindor said as her own super raced down her arms and into the gathered Fallen blocking their way, "Barbequed Fallen!"

"Come on!" Arielle bellowed and snarled slammed her fists into a Vandal's face before hopping on her Sparrow. "Let's go!"

"Arielle wait!" Lindor yelled as they followed after her.

"Zavala." Ikora growled as the Commander continued to watch the screen.

They had watched as Vlad, Rose and Orion ducked and ran to avoid Watchers of Crota around the once pristine Vault space, struggling to bring them down.

Throughout it all, Rose had been sending pings and messages to them, constantly seeking help and aid from anyone who could offer it, even sending a message straight to them for some kind of support and to alert them of the danger Rasputin was in.

"We continue as planned." Zavala said ignoring the glare he was getting.

"Zavala she is fighting to stop this." Ikora stated firmly. "Surely this is enough to prove she is not one of them. She's proven her loyalty! She gave us all the information she had and yet you still wish to test her on Venus? This isn't worth the lives of others!"

"We have an entire City full of innocent lives to protect Ikora! If our duty to protect them means that lives must be lost then so be it!" Zavala bellowed. "Rose is not of our world, I cannot see her Light nor can I sense it, if I am to trust her and believe she is no threat to the thousands of lives that depend on us for their safety, then she must prove to me that she is worthy of that trust."

"And getting others, your own student, killed while she is trying to do one task for you is a worthy trade?! You'd sooner see her dead because of your so called test!" Ikora yelled.

"Enough."

All eyes fell on Eris Morn as she tapped the comm-link. "Vladamir-66."

"What are you doing?!" Zavala demanded.

"Ending this without loss of life." Eris stated. "Vladamir-66."

 _~ "Yes Eris?" ~_ Vlad answered the comm channel echoing the gunfire ad Wizard screams.

"When you are joined by the other fire team and Arielle you must clear the Hive from Rasputin and then return here." Eris stated. "Rose must know what is said of her."

 _~ "Yes Eris." ~_ Vlad said and the channel went quiet.

Vlad panted heavily as he ducked for cover, swallowing the air as he tried to keep himself from overheating as the last Watcher of Crota disintegrated into a pile of ashes.

"My god." Orion gasped for air nearby. "That was harder than it should have been…"

"They aren't from this world." Rose panted, clutching something to her chest. "These are Ghosts from my world." She said, feeling the tiniest fragments of light left in the three dead Ghosts reaching out, desperately trying to feed on her own. "They wore them like prises. Like trophies… Damn it! How did they take over this place without us knowing?"

"I don't know." Vlad said then growled as a green fog thickened in the middle of the room. "Oh come on!"

"Now what?!" Orion snarled.

Rose ducked behind cover, wrapping the dead Ghosts she'd collected in to her cloak as a make shit pack before peeking out in time to see a massive form shake the room with its steps.

"Oh fuck." Orion cursed opening his comm link. "Arielle! We got the Might of Crota here! I repeat the Might of Crota is inside the Seraphim Vault!"

 _~ "We're almost there! Hang on!" ~_ Arielle answered sounding frantic with worry. _~ "Stay alive!" ~_

"Orion! Look out!" Vlad yelled though his warning came too late as a powerful blast knocked Orion from his hiding place and something big smashed down into him grabbing him tightly and lifting him up.

"Fuck." Orion spat looking up into the business end of the Ogre's bulging eye and drooling jaws. "Sorry babe… I fucked up."

 _~ "Orion?!" ~_

"Get off him!" Rose yelled as a hail of bullets hit the Ogre's face, ripping into it's hide as the huge beast turned towards Rose and tossed Orion to the ground as she continued to fire on it, lifting its arms to try and block the shots that just kept coming, forcing it to stagger backwards, when it had a chance to fire its eye beam, Rose moved jumping and scrambling over the Hive walls as if she had done it before, pausing only for a few seconds to reload and fire on the Ogre, keeping its attention on her.

Vlad saw his chance and raced in, heaving the groaning Titan from the floor and dragged him out of the way as thrall began to pour into the room again, though they did not seem to at first notice them.

"Get your ass up Orion!" he snarled taking shots at the Thrall and Knights that tried to charge Rose.

"Arielle's gonna kill me." Orion hissed through his teeth as he struggled to move alone. "Fuck!"

"Nah, she'll kill Zavala, then she'll kill you for being stupid. Then kill me for letting you do something stupid." Vlad stated, helping the Titan up to a safe place watching as Rose unloaded all hell into the Ogre.

Arielle skidded into the Vault just in time to see Rose aim her rocket launcher. "Fire in the hole!" the Hunter yelled as she fired and Arielle shielded her eyes as the Ogre took a direct hit to the eye with a bone shaking roar of agony before falling to the ground, its eye oozing blood and something that looked like tar from its wounds.

"Did she just… solo an Ogre?" Lindor asked.

"Yep." Terrik nodded.

"Orion?" Arielle asked searching the room. "Orion?!"

"Here." Orion called and a shaky hand waved from the far side of the room. "I need a doctor… or a very long hot bath." The Titan added before wincing as Arielle all but threw herself at him and refused to let go.

"Don't. You. **_EVER_**. Scare me like that again! You idiot! I told you to stay alive!" She yelled at him though there was more relief and joy in her voice than real anger or rage. "So help me if I lost you… Damn it don't ever do that again!"

"Yes Arielle." Orion affirmed, returning the tight embrace while Wrex and Vakarian worked on healing him. "Sorry I smell like Hive." He added.

"Shut up and hug the woman." Vlad chuckled.

"Nicely done Rose." Lindor praised as Rose sank to the ground, clutching the bundle of her cloak to her chest as Lindor crouched beside her. "What you got there?" She asked.

"Ghosts. From my world." Rose said, chocking back a sob. "How did this happen? How did they get in here without someone knowing? How?"

"I don't know." Lindor said softly, placing her hand on the hunter's shoulder in comfort, "But they are dead now, and we can revive those Ghosts, take them to our Speaker and he can send them to our Traveller where their memories can help us fight this Darkness."

"And what if they can't?" Rose asked. "What if they can't be revived?"

"All Ghosts can be revived Rose, even the broken ones." Zaragosa stated. "We just need all the pieces."

"Really?" Rose asked and Zaragosa nodded.

"Um… does anyone else have the feeling we are being watched?" Lindor asked suddenly only to hiss and clutch her head in pain, seeing Zaragosa, Terrik, Vlad, Orion and Arielle go down also clutching their heads.

Rose screamed, clutching her helmet over her ears, trying to drown out the sound that assaulted her ears.

Bing sent out one final ping for help, sending it to the one person he knew somehow could help them fight the Hive.

 _~ "Help us!" ~_

"No." Eris breathed, clutching her orb close to her chest. "No, no, no, no…"

"Eris? What's wrong?" Ikora asked as the former Hunter fell against the table. "Eris?!"

"He's here… Crota… his darkness… it's here!"

Ikora paled and opened her comm link. "Arielle?! Vlad?! Orion?! Anyone!?"

{"Too late, pathetic Light."} A sickening cold voice hissed and Ikora tore the comm link from her ear. {"They will never see the Light again!"}

"No." Eris trembled.

"Where has he taken them?!" Ikora asked, kneeling beside Eris. "Eris talk to me! Where has he taken them!?"

"His realm." Cayde said as he came in, kneeling by Eris and pressed something inside Eris's hood. "Little help here?" he asked.

Something must have happened because Eris' shakes began to fade almost instantly while Cayde helped the still shaky Eris to her usual dark corner and placed something from her chest over her before coming back.

"What did you just do?" Zavala asked.

"Made her feel safe and to answer you Ikora, think about who we are now dealing with and read the files Rose gave us." The Hunter Vanguard stated before he began to type rapidly on his console.

A pair of signals suddenly appeared on his screen and he smiled. "There they are."

"Where the fuck are we?" Terrik groaned forcing himself to his feet even though his legs felt like Jelly.

"It looks like… like a Hive Chamber?" Zaragosa said helping Vlad back to his feet, "But nothing like we saw on the Moon." He added.

"Oh my head," Orion hissed. "What the fuck happened?"

"Crota."

All eyes fell on Rose as she clutched her bundle of Ghosts looking out the barrier that seemed to separate them from gathering Acolytes, Knights and Thrall, clawing at the barrier to get at them.

And stood across from them, surrounded in an ominous pale bluish green light, stood Crota, The Hive God.

"Shit." Vlad hissed. "We don't have ammo for this."

"I do." Zaragosa growled. "Jazzy, dump out all the ammo boxes. Now." He said as his Ghost flitted into life, dropping three crates of ammo. "Fill up, Orion you're not in fit state for this so you get to baby sit the ammo."

"Great." Orion winced.

"I'm staying with him." Arielle said.

"No, go with them, I'll be alright." Orion said. "I can handle Hive." He added taking the bundle from Rose. "I'll keep them safe."

"Thank you." Rose said, hearing a cold chuckle echo around them.

"Come hopeless Lights!" Crota snarled as the barrier began to flicker.

"Keep your Ghosts inside your armour, no matter what happens." Rose said.

"Face your demise!" Crota bellowed and the shield finally dropped.

All hell broke loose.

Vlad lost sight of Rose for a second as the Thrall lunged into the area only to be forced out again as Lindor unleashed her Lightning, atomizing the Hive that dared to get to close while Zaragosa and Terrik took turns unloading their weapons into Knights and Acolytes, Vlad and Rose taking sniper shots at the Wizards and Knights outside while Arielle gathered as many light orbs as she could. Building her own light up inside in hopes of ending this quickly and getting Orion to safely.

"Supers just bounce off this guy!" Terrik snarled as Vlad's arrow bounced off Crota like a bullet.

"So we do to him what we did to his Soul Crystal on the Moon!" Vlad snarled. "Rocket his shield down and then fuck him over with swords!" he added heaving Dark Drinker from his back. "Rose."

"Fire in the hole." Rose said and took aim, firing two rockets from her launcher in quick succession and quickly reloading.

"Come on!" Vlad snarled and rushed Crota as the Hive God fell to his knee, shocked by the sudden impact from the rockets.

He saw the faintest Light hidden behind the wall and growled, using his own sword to shove the brighter one away. "Wretched, Pathetic Light! I will devour you!"

"The Hell you will!"

Crota turned in time to see two more rockets coming at him from both sides and felt the third smash into his chest as he hit the ground again, feeling two blades attack him this time he snarled and smashed his fist to the ground, forcing his attackers away.

"Watch yourself Ari!" Vlad called as he skidded backwards, seeing Arielle clutching her Bolt Caster, focusing her lightning down its blade and her gantlets, intent on killing whatever was on the cutting end of the blade.

"Die already!" Zaragosa snarled firing another pair of rockets. "Die!"

"Watch out!" Lindor yelled pulling Zaragosa from his place as a tri fingers hand smashed the ground where he had been. "We got more Ogres!"

"We have more everything!" Arielle yelled. "Fuck!"

Rose ducked behind cover and clutched her launcher to her chest, panting heavily. "Damn it… Damn it all… What do we do?"

"We fight." Orin hissed, "I got enough light in me for a Super, I can take down one of the Sword bearing Knights. But you'll have to do the rest." He explained.

"Me?" Rose asked.

"You can do it Rose. See those rocks to his right? When the Knight goes down, get his sword and get to those rocks, then when I shout, jump up and take that bastard out."

"But I'm… I'm not a sword user, I don't know the first thing about how to handle them." Rose said. "I'm not sure I can."

"You can." The Titan assured. "You took out the Might of Crota alone. An Ogre! You can do this. If you don't, we might never get out of here."

Rose looked to the battle fight outside, Arielle and Vlad were struggling to bring down Crota while Zaragosa, Terrik and Lindor acted as crowd control, taking out the Ogres, Wizards, Thrall and Knights while she and Orion dealt with any Hive that came to close to them and fired rockets to try and bring down Crota's shields.

They were starting to falter, she could feel a terrible pressure around them, as if the air itself was trying to drag them down.

"You're sure you'll be ok alone?" Rose asked.

"Terrik! When Rose runs, you take her place with me!" Orion yelled, forcing himself to stand. "Ready?"

"No." Rose said though she put her rocket launcher on her back and prepared to run as Orion clutched the handle of his hammer, releasing his super in a burning light and Rose dared to take a deep breath.

"Go!" Orion yelled and she ran, jumping down into a rapidly falling number of Thrall and snatched up the huge claymore blade and rushed towards the rocks Orion had pointed out, jumping up to them and clutched the sword tightly as she heard Crota's laughter above her.

"Hit that bastard with everything!" Orion yelled as Rockets shot towards the Hive God, slamming into his shield over and over again until the Hive God at last staggered. "Keep him down!"

Vlad and Arielle charged Crota, slamming their blades into the Hive God's own to keep him down, forcing their Light down their blades, trying to keep the Hive God from blocking Rose as Hunter came over the side and slammed the stolen blade down hard into Crota's back.

Light, blinding white light.

It burned through the Hive's darkness like a fire through snow, burning the remnants of the Hive around Crota away while bathing the Guardians with warmth and renewed energy for a few seconds.

 _~ "How the hell did they get to the Moon!?" ~_ Zavala demanded into the comms.

 _~ "Can any of you hear us!?" ~_ Ikora asked frantic with worry.

 _~ "Zaragosa?! Vlad?! One of you answer me!" ~_ Cayde bellowed.

"We have to get out!" Bing yelled frantically over the open comms, "We have to get out NOW! Trans-mat for your Ships!"

"You heard him!" Vakarian yelled picking up the ship signals. "Everyone get your Guardian to their Ship!"

Rose felt the warmth of Bing's trans-mat scanner and would have spoken had a horrid, echoing, bone chilling and familiar scream split her ears.

"Omnigul!?" Orion snarled.

"We are LEAVING!" Wrex snarled out as the screams became unbearable all but dumping Orion into the piolet seat of his ship and he took over the controls and threw the whole ship into full speed heading for Earth.

 _~ "Do not stop until we hit the Tower!" ~_ Vakarian commanded over the comms and Wrex heard a chorus of affirmatives as they speed away from the Moon.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter six.

Doubt and Cure.

It was evening when they were finally released from the tender cares of the doctors, exhorted, sore from medical needles and prodding fingers, but alive and together.

"So… who won?" Zaragosa-40 asked leaning on Orion as they entered the Plaza.

"Won?" Lindor asked.

"The bet. Who killed more?" Zaragosa asked again.

"I think we drew." Arielle said with a small smile. "Shall we head to bed?"

"We can't." Vlad stated looking towards the stairs leading to the Vanguard. "Not yet." He added glancing at Rose.

"Oh… that." Orion sighed.

"What?" Rose asked. "What's the matter?"

"We need to go see the Vanguard… at least the four of us do." Vlad said nodding to himself, Rose, Orion and Arielle.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"We'll explain when we get down there." Vlad said.

"We'll see you later," Lindor said heading for the dorms with her team in tow, "I hope things go well for you Rose." She added.

Rose nodded though wasn't sure what was going on even as she followed Vlad and the others down into the Hall of Guardians but stopped as they heard the Vanguard in the middle of some kind of heated discussion that could almost be called a shouting match by the sound of things.

Zavala sounded like he was about to punch someone, his tone cold and harsh and so unlike the Commander Orion was use to hearing and Ikora sounded and looked about ready to attack the Commander, her fists clenched tightly enough to cut the skin of her palms making them bleed as lightning danced about her lower arms.

Lord Shaxx and Lord Saladin were stood by the two Vanguard members, acting as a blockade while Cayde stood silently at his place, sporting a noticeable dent to the right side of his face as Eris and the Vanguards' Ghosts remained in the door way between the Crucible and the Vanguard table, waiting for them.

"I do not care for your tone, Commander." Ikora was saying. "You've been acting strangely these last few days yourself and several of Titans have noticed this. You are not yourself."

"And you dare to think that means I cannot see when there is a threat? Need I remind you that it was the Titans who protected the City when the walls were threatened by the House of Devils the first time and not Warlocks, Ikora Ray." The Commander stated in a low tone.

"Are you trying to imply something?" Ikora growled.

"What's happening?" Arielle asked Eris quietly as they reached her.

"Commander Zavala has been showing odd behaviour since your departure and return, Ikora and Cayde have been trying to speak with him calmly but the Commander has become defensive and the talks have become more aggressive." Eris explained. "Lord Saladin and Lord Shaxx have been trying to keep the talks from becoming physical, but the behaviour is getting more violent by the hour."

"Zavala punched Cayde?" Vlad asked in some shock.

"He had no right to put his hands on me." Zavala growled in response, though his glare was not focused on Vlad.

"He gave you a pat on the shoulder as he has done many times before and suggested we take a break." Lord Shaxx stated with a firm tone. "You were the one who started this argument Zavala."

"What is going on?" Rose asked.

Eris wished she still had normal eyes, but instead she turned her cloth covered gaze to Rose, tainted green meeting rich emerald as she spoke. "The Vanguard, Ikora and Zavala specifically, planned to test you when you travelled to Venus." She explained. "As a means of discovering weather or not you are in some way corrupted or tainted by the Darkness of your world."

Rose looked shocked and Eris needed no further proof there was no darkness within the Awoken before her, she didn't have the years of practice to hide the depth of her emotions in her eyes as the Queen and others like Arielle and herself did.

"Why Venus?" Rose asked.

"We didn't like nor approve of that idea," Vlad sighed and spoke up, though he hung his head, unable to meet Rose's gaze. "Ikora's plan was that we have your aura and light read by Eris or ask the Queen if her Tech Witches could spare the time to check you, but Zavala said such a thing wouldn't show any true corruption as Eris is already corrupted and could possibly miss it and the Tech Witches are the Queen's to command."

"But I've been to the Reef and stood not three feet from the Queen, she'd have known if there was something wrong me with." Rose said turning to Zavala. "And what would going to Venus do to prove I wasn't corrupted? There are only Vex there you said it yourself."

"Vex from your world. With your Light so weak, the Vex as a whole would treat you as a threat, but their conjoined mind would react differently and depending on how they respond to you, it could be an indication of any kind of Darkness that may cling to you." Zavala said.

"Liar." Cayde hissed, "You thought she's turn around and shoot the team she went in with when she thought we weren't looking." He added. "he wanted Orion and Vlad to fake comm failure while we watched thought Ghost feeds via Wrex and Sovereign your behaviour, if you turned killer when you though we weren't wanting he'd know he was right to mistrust you."

"I would never do that!" Rose said and Eris saw the confusion mix with anger and hurt, for a moment she dared to think just how young Rose truly was.

"Rose please, we know you're not like that." Orion said in defence, "We all do, you proved that on the Moon. It's just Zavala has to know for sure sometimes and-"

"And the best way to prove that you are loyal to him is to get yourself killed in a situation where not only could you die but everyone on the team and their Ghosts could also die, meaning that you lose Guardians who could be better used to protect the very City he's so worried about?" Rose finished for him and turned to them. "And you clearly have your own doubts or else you would have told me." She added.

"No we-"

"You do!" Rose snapped, cutting Arielle off, "If you trusted me you'd have told me. I bet that's why they didn't send you with me." She added before turning back to Zavala. "What more do you want from me? Do you want me to just give you Bing so you can remove everything and scrutinize it for yourself? Die and let someone dissect me looking for some kind of corruption? Is that what it takes to prove loyalty to you?"

"Rose-"

"Answer me!" Rose snarled ignoring Ikora. "You saw it for yourself! I lost everything! My friends, my mentors- My whole world is GONE! Taken and destroyed by Darkness and you think I somehow in the space of three days was infected with it?! That because of fucked up Vex tech swallowed me up and spat me out here before all of hell followed me here I am somehow responsible for it?!"

"Rose please-" Vlad tried only to be cut off and ignored the same way Ikora had been.

"I didn't ask to be the last Hunter in my world, I didn't ask to be dumped in the perfect world, where everything is right while my world was taken over! I'd trade places with everyone there in a heartbeat if I had the chance!" Rose snarled.

"Rose." Rose stopped and looked at Cayde who nodded towards Eris. "You are scaring Bing."

Rose turned to her Ghost and instantly the anger inside went away, as she saw Bing hiding behind Eris' shoulder, his shell shaking and a soft but frightened chittering sound coming from him.

"Bing…"

"Please don't fight," the ghost pleaded, his voice filled with static. "Please. Please don't fight." He repeated and Rose reached out and held her palm up, instantly, he floated back to her and against her chest armour, feeling her hands cover him. "Please."

"I'm sorry." Rose said.

"Enough of this now." Cayde said, "You four go get some rest. Tomorrow, when we are all rested and we have had time to cool our heads," he glared at Zavala, "We will talk about this Venus mission."

"What did you want me to do there?" Rose asked.

"Find your world's Watson." Orion said, "He's in the Vault of Glass somewhere, Zavala thought that if there was corruption in you, the Vex wouldn't be able to kill you as they came from your world." He explained.

"As a Ghost once told me, 'Vex try to kill everyone'." Rose said dryly.

Arielle smiled and gently put an arm over Rose's shoulders. "Come now, it's late we're all tired and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so let's all go and settle down for the night." She suggests, already gently leading Rose out of the room. "We can all stay in one room too, how's that?"

"Sounds like a plan." Vlad smiled as he and Orion followed them out.

"I am not in agreement with is." Zavala growled.

"You have no say in the ways of a Hunter, Commander." Cayde-6 stated firmly before turning away. "Watson, we're leaving. Good night Ikora."

"Good night Cayde." The Warlock Vanguard called after him as he left. "Good night Eris." She added as Eris also made her leave.

Prince Uldren didn't make a habit of listening to idol gossip from the Guardians around the Reef. Rarely did they have anything worthy of his attention, but now and then, he found their chatter to be a wealth of information of certain enemies such as the Vex, or Cabal.

So he hadn't expected to hear anything interesting when he visited the Outpost to speak with Petra about something when a passing trio of Guardian caught his eye, they looked like they were waiting to hand Variks back his Prison key while talking about something their Warlock held in his hands.

"The Hive have returned?" the Titan asked in shock.

"Yes, just got word from the Vanguard, they want teams to go into Rasputin's Bunker and clear out every trace of the Hive before Ikora and Eris can try and salvage the War Mind. Turns out Orion and Vlad went in there with that New Hunter, Rose I think her name is and ran into Watcher of Crota and that Damn Ogre of his too." The Warlock stated.

"When did that happen?" the Hunter asked.

"A couple of hours ago," the Warlock stated. "Report's fresh off the wire."

"Why didn't they go in with Arielle? Isn't she the best for Hive killing?" the Hunter asked.

"Nope, I heard Ikora wanted her to stay home today, something about another mission for Arielle to run, but when Orion and Vlad reported Hive in the Bunker, Arielle went in after them with Lindor's team." The Warlock explained and Uldren strained to hear more as the Warlock leaned closer to his team, "Reports say there was a huge spike in Darkness in that area and that they all suddenly appeared on the Moon."

"That's not good." The Hunter said. "That's Hive territory."

"It gets worse, according to this, all of them were Ghosted out of there and after arriving back to the Tower they all collapsed, shaking and sweating like they'd just gone solo in the Prison." The warlock said.

"What!?" the Titan and Hunter gasped, "No way! This is Arielle we are talking about here, you know, Best Stormcaller this side of the Nine and not to mention she served the Queen, no way would she just collapse from fighting the Hive."

Uldren heard no more as he moved away. That tightness in his chest was back, and he didn't like that it only seemed to worsen as he thought of Arielle, strong and proud and beautiful, a shaking and weakened mess… No, no, that was impossible, completely preposterous and utterly ridicules and unthinkable.

Those Guardians had to be wrong, misinformed or just plain stupid. There was no way Arielle, Reef Born Warlock, the greatest Storm Caller of all the Warlock class and the Queen's Sword, would ever become so weak…

Uldren shook his head. It was impossible.

He'd only know if he checked.

Stirring himself, Uldren headed towards Petra's privet quarters, at this late hour the huntress would likely be enjoying a cup of some foul teasing ick she'd grown fond of while on the Tower, but it also meant there would not be an audience if he asked her to contact Arielle for an update after what he had heard.

All on behalf of the Queen of course.

She should have left a note.

Rose knew she should have left note somewhere before leaving the Tower alone in the dead of night.

Maybe a text… No; she had to do this alone. She had to find Watson by herself so no one would get hurt. Arielle, Orion, Vlad, Lindor, Terrik and Zaragosa had been hurt because of her and Zavala already thought she was corrupted in some way, Rose couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of her.

She glanced back to where Bing was sleeping on the pillow Arielle had let them use, his little frame almost perfectly hidden by the white of the pillow, he knew what she was doing, he'd not been able to settle to sleep after the fight with Zavala and so they had waited until everyone else was asleep and then quietly snuck out, making their way to Venus to find Watson's shell.

She'd turned her comm link off, she knew they could trace it but if it was off it would take them longer, meaning if they did try to follow her, they would be slowed and less likely to catch up and get hurt again because she was corrupted.

Rose huffed as the ship was spat from hyper space around Venus and began to descend into the planet's atmosphere. Corrupted, HA! She wasn't corrupted, she couldn't have been. Arielle would have known if she was after the first night she spent in the same room as her and they had been stood not three feet from the Queen more than once while they were on the Reef, the Queen would have known if she was corrupted in anyway and the Queen would have told Arielle. How could anyone think she was corrupted if she had come and gone in the Reef without the Queen showing an inkling of worry? Zavala had no reason to worry if the Queen of the Reef, another Awoken had no worries about her.

Even Eris, ERIS MORN! The most clearly and undoubtable corrupted Guardian hadn't spoken up. Of all people on the tower, surely Eris would have said something… The Speaker would have known, he was the closest to the Traveler, surely he'd have known if she was a threat…?

"Rose?" Bing asked and Rose realized she was outside her ship, stood at what looked like the door to the Vault of Glass. "There are no Vex here." The Ghost stated.

"That's not good. Stay inside until we get into the Vault they stay close." She said, taking the safety off of her weapons before starting towards the Vault Door.

Vakarian stirred from recharge hearing his systems ping repeatedly and sluggishly made his way to Arielle. "Ari… call from Petra…" he muttered, shifting his panelling in a way that it would poke and lightly tap at Arielle's forehead. "Ari."

"Mph? Oh." Arielle said and answered the comm. "Arielle. And if this isn't life or death I'll be pissed."

 _~ "You sound like you just lost your best gauntlets to a rookie." ~_ Petra chuckled from the other end. _~ "We heard some nasty talk about Crota being back and you getting hurt. But we have no official reports to that effect." ~_ She explained.

Arielle sighed. "I feel like a damn pin cushion, but I'll live thanks to Rose." She assured. "Tell the Queen I will give her a full report when we've rested up." She added.

 _~ "Will do. Good night Arielle." ~_

"Night." Arielle bid before the comm shut off and she clambered out of bed, needing a glass of water-

And froze in her steps when she realized the Sofa where Rose should have been was empty and Bing was not in his usual place.

"Wake up! Both of you up! Rose is gone!"

Bing hovered over the dead Vex as they passed them, scanning them as he went. "Pulse rifle damage." He said. "But nothing like what we have." He added.

"So someone else is here? Clearing out Vex?" Rose asked. "Come." She added wanting Bing close to her in case they did run into danger in this place.

They'd passed hundreds of dead Vex, some in bits others with clear shots through their juice boxes and eyes, from Harpies to Hydras, it was unsettling to think someone else was in here, killing Vex with what seemed to be well practiced ease.

"Are you alright?" Bing asked as the silence became too much for him.

"I'm fine." Rose said and Bing floated in front of her face. "Bing."

"Tell me the truth. Please." Bing pleaded. "You've never shouted at anyone the way you shouted at Zavala and you've never chosen to go off alone like this. Please Rose. Tell me what's wrong." He said.

Rose sighed and looked to her feet. "I don't want them hurt because of me," She began. "I've been here almost four days now, I went to the Reef with Arielle and I was stood in the same room as the Queen, I've walked past Eris so many times and the Speaker." She sighed. "Could it be possible-Could they all miss something like corruption in a Guardian?" She asked and Bing went quiet, shell shifting and twisting in silence as he didn't have an answer to give.

"A valid question." A voice said from ahead of them and Rose quickly moved so she was in front of Bing and ahead of them she could just make out a somewhat familiar shadow with bright blue eyes looking at her.

"You?"

"I'm sorry to show up so suddenly and startle you. But there are some answer I need and I don't have the time to ask the Questions elsewhere." The female Exo said.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" Rose asked.

"How are you here?" Bing added to the questions.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you who I am and I have already told you why I am here." The Exo said. "Tell me who you are and what you are doing in this world. You do not belong in it and yet you are here."

"If I had an answer to that Question I'd demand to be traded with someone more worthy of living." Rose stated with a heavy huff. "You know what, I have had enough of people playing riddle games with me and it would be nice if someone would give me a damn straight answer for once. Who are you and what do you want?" she repeated. 

The Exo didn't seem able to answer, only looking at Rose as if doing so would give her answers before releasing a sigh "I'm sorry I can't answer your questions, but know this Guardian. Something terrible is coming here and our paths will cross again."

"Our paths have already crossed." Rose said. "You called Bing 'Little Light' remember? Helped me fix up my leg in the Academy after the fall broke it."

"In your world Guardian, but in this world this is our first meeting." The Exo explained. "I will find you again Guardian, when it is safer to talk. But for now, the Ghost you are looking for is at the end of this corridor, inside a hidden room. Stay on this path and you'll find him." She added before turning and walking away in a flickering blue light.

"Wait! Wait please! Damn it!" Rose growled. "No one gives me answers." She said kicking the dirt.

"Arielle gave you some answers." Bing said. "And she hasn't been rude to us like she was." He added as he searched carefully for a Ghost signature as they continued to walk, reaching a dead end with a small tunnel big enough to crawl in by the wall. "In there." He bounced in a nod.

Rose got down on her hands and knees and slowly crawled through the tunnel with Bing at her side with light so she could see where she was going as she went.

"How the hell did she get past you Vlad?" Orion asked as he, Vlad and Arielle raced towards Venus.

"I don't know, but right now we have bigger problems. She's turned her comm link off." Vlad explained. "Sovereign is scanning for Bing now, but by his readings she's already inside the Vault of Glass."

"Great, What is she thinking!? She barely survived Vex the last time we were here!" Arielle said as they broke the atmosphere of Venus. "Where are you Rose?"

"She's definitely inside the Vault, but the signal's messed up," Sovereign said as they touched down outside the Vault and Arielle raced towards the open door way, seeing the slowly growing number of dead Vex made her stomach turn as she realized the damage was not done by Rose's weapons.

"Rose!?"

"Bing? Vakarian called, "Bing! Answer us!"

"Rose? Bing!" Vlad called out, scrambling up walls to ledges to try and see if he could spot the two.

"Wait." Bing said suddenly and Rose stopped. "Listen," he added and she tilted her head slightly, listening to some kind of soft clicking sound, a sound that made Rose crawl faster through the tunnel to find a large area of the Vault that was starting to fade and fizzle like static before dissolving away, making the same soft clicking sound she and Bing had heard.

And just outside the tunnel, a lonely Ghost shell lay facing away from her, black and charred but clearly a Ghost Shell and carefully she reached out and scooped the frame up and carried it back the way they had come, holding the shell close to her chest as she went, once they had reached the 'safety' of the room they had found the tunnel in, watching the entrance close itself up as if it had never been there.

"Is it him?" Bing asked in hope ass he floated around the Ghost shell. "Is it really him?"

"Yes," Rose nodded carefully turning the Ghost in her hands and cleaning the dust and dirt from its shell, then used the pad of her gloved thumb to clean the dirt from the cracked glass of the optical unit. "Watson?"

There was no answer, just a blankly staring cracked core that held no signs of life.

"Maybe… if he charges up a little?" Bing suggested, "He might still be there…?" He added trying to sound hopeful. "Maybe…?"

"No," Rose said softly. "He's gone Bing. Just like everything else from our world." She sighed though she did carefully pull a small cable from her armour and attached it to Watson's shell and waited for some kind of response.

None came and Rose slumped back against the wall of the small room, burying her helmeted face in her arms as the minutes ticked passed with no response from the Ghost shell. "There's something in his Shell." Bing said after what seemed like eternity, "it's just very faint. Maybe Cayde could help?"

"Will he?" Rose asked, her voice broken and strained. "Zavala doesn't trust me, Ikora doesn't trust me. Why would they let Cayde help me?"

"Because no one tells Cayde what he can and cannot do." Vlad stated as he arrived with Arielle and Orion, "He'll help you, even if Zavala and Ikora vote against him." He added as Arielle knelt with Rose, pulling her into a tight hug for comfort more than anything.

"How- How did you find me?" Rose asked through sniffles.

"Wrex scanned the area and spotted Bing's signature behind the wall," Orion said.

"Come now, let's get you home." Arielle said, "We can talk about this when we get there and believe me, we will be behind you all the way."

"Even though you doubt you?" Rose asked.

"Doubts that you have dispelled." Orion said. "You gave us everything you could, you never questioned the reasons we are sent with you. If you were something evil, we'd know by now." He added. "We were wrong to doubt you Rose, we know that and we are sorry, but it will never happen again and if anyone dares to say ill of you, we'll beat 'em up, send their ships to Variks for parts and make them weed the Tower Plaza with tooth picks for a year."

Rose gave a small nod, slowly getting back to her feet and safely tucking Watson into her pack. "Thank you. For telling me the truth." She said as she looked at Vlad.

"Hunter's never lie to each other." Vlad smiled kindly.

Bing gave a soft bleep and bounced in a nod as he looked at the dark shell in Rose's pack. "Maybe he can help us prove to Zavala we aren't corrupted?"

"I'm sure he will." Vlad assured as their Ghosts bathed them in the warmth their trans-mat tech and returned them to their waiting ships.

Eris sat in the darkness of her room, gently caressing her orb with one hand while holding it with the other, listening carefully to the shadows now that she knew there were voices to be heard once again.

These new voices were similar, yet new to her, more powerful and darker in tone, they spoke of sinister intent, of bitter brutality and the hunger for the death of the Light in what they called the 'Pure world.' They spoke of death and how to hand the judgement of their fallen Hive God…

Omnigul's screams pierced her ears, raged beyond words at the death of her Master, she cursed and slandered the Dimmest Light. She spoke of destroying that Light and taking the Ball from her limb body by force before tossing the bones to her brood.

Eris felt sick but endured the shadows a moment longer, searching for something else, any sign of what she had sensed before…

And with a terrible pain to her mind, she retreated from the shadows hastily and clutched the cloth that had been placed over her by Cayde close.

"Oh Eriana." She whispered. "Watch over us…"

Upon their return to the Tower, the Vanguard were waiting in the Hall of Guardians, along with the two Titan Lords, due to Zavala's increasing temper the two had taken to standing between the Commander and the Vanguard, a silent but clear warning for Zavala to mind his tone and tongue.

Strangely, their Ghosts were all docked on recharge ports rather than hovering at their Guardian's sides.

"May I?" Cayde asked offering a hand to Rose in a silent and verbal request to see the Ghost of his counterpart, there was no demand in his tone and Rose knew she didn't have to hand Watson over to him if she did not want to.

"Can you wake him up?" She asked.

"I can try." Cayde nodded keeping his tone even and kind as Rose brought the charred and bunt shell from her pack and gently placed it in his hand and he began to clean the dirt and dust from the Ghost as if he had done it many times before.

"I am not in agreement with is." Zavala growled.

"As I said last night; you have no say in the ways of a Hunter, Commander." Cayde-6 stated firmly, gently placing Rose's Watson onto a portable recharge station and also attached a small blank data pad to it. "Watson, begin Operation Rundown." He said clearly and carefully.

Nothing happened at first and then, slow from lack of charge, the Ghost's systems began to respond to the command given to it and the Data pad began to show read outs of back up scan results, encrypted files, protected files and encrypted programs Cayde recognized as his own work and others he knew would need explaining later, each one downloading quickly and then came files and programs Cayde realized where in fact a list of names, reports and notes marked with a 'Q' and other files that made Rose's story and the images they had all seen in her reports make even more sense.

"Watson?" Rose asked hopefully and at first there was no response from the Ghost, just a dull, empty stare until suddenly and as if suddenly awoken from a deep sleep, the Shell panels began to twitch and shake and the cracked optic burned brightly and moved frantically, scanning the area.

"Watson?" Bing asked hovering closer to the other Ghost. "Watson its ok. You are safe here." He explained.

"B… B-B-Bin-n-n-n-n-ng?" The other Ghost asked in a broken and static filled voice as he began to regain energy and strength, slowly calming down as he spotted the Hunter Bing had been hovering beside stepped closer. "R-R-Ros-s-s-se?"

"I'm here Watson," Rose smiled taking off her helmet and smiled as the older Ghost gave a soft chime she recognized as an identification scan. "You're safe here."

"Wh-h-h-here? S-S-S-Saf-f-f-fe?" Watson asked trying to look around, seeing faces he knew were dead all around him and also seeing himself a few inches away. "No d-d-d-d-d-dang-g-g-ger?"

"Yes. We are safe Watson," Rose nodded. "You rest now, we'll talk when you have more strength."

"No-o-o-o-o. M-m-m-m-must-t-t-t-t-t talk-k-k-k now." Watson said trying and failing to float up. "P-p-p-pois-s-s-s-s-s-s-sion. Tra-a-a-a-a-a-vel-l-l-l-l-er pas-s-s-s-s-sed to-to-to Ghosts. Ghosts passed to-to-to-to Guard-d-d-d-d-dians."

"Slow down, Watson." Cayde said, "You aren't making sense." He added and the Ghost took a moment to look at him. "Take a moment erase and download things that are lagging your systems to the data pad I have you hooked up too and then speak." He instructed, and sure enough, he saw several files and programs appear on the data pad beside Watson.

"This is important." The Ghost stated firmly, though he was still unable to speak without static and interference.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. "What's so important you can't wait for a full charge?"

"The poison in the Traveler." Watson stated, starting to make more sense though his voice was still faded and static-filled. "The Traveler is linked to Ghosts. Ghosts are linked to Guardians. What effects one effects the other."

"What does that have to do with poison?" Rose asked only for the Ghost to start to fade again. "Watson?"

"He needs to rest more," Vakarian said, "His Shell is stressed, strained from so little energy and now it's not use to having as much flood in again, give him a few minutes and he will be able to talk again."

"In that time, you have some explaining to do." Zavala said, "All this started when you showed up, and now you run off alone in the night, so I expect straight answers from you this time Hunter."

"Zavala-"

"No Saladin. You know it's true." Zavala stated cutting his former mentor off as he again looked at Rose. "All the trouble started when you arrived here. The Fallen got stronger, the Ravens showing up, the Vex increasing their numbers on Venus. And now this attack on the Reef and the City. You better start giving us straight answers and truthful explanations."

"What more do I need to explain?" Rose asked, feeling a familiar anger flare in her as she looked at Zavala and glared at him the way she would have the Zavala from her own world. "You wanted proof I wasn't corrupted by bring you Watson's Shell. I did. I went alone so no one would be hurt. If I was an enemy I'm pretty sure someone one have noticed by now."

"She's right, no way would we have all missed something like this." Arielle growled standing in defence of her friend. "You are out of line Commander."

"Your own behaviour as of late has been questionable at best Arielle so I suggest you stay out of this." Zavala snarled.

"Watch your tone, Titan!" Hissed Ikora as lightning flooded down her arms along with Arielle's.

"Hey, knock it off!" Orion said getting in the way of Arielle and the Commander while Shaxx put a hand to Ikora's shoulders.

"She could be masking it," Zavala said continuing his attack on Rose. "Believe me it has been done before. Toland and Osiris are proof of that."

"I am not some crazed fool!" Rose growled back. "Toland was corrupted by the knowledge he had and got his team killed for it. Osiris left to study the darkness because the Speaker didn't like that fact he was openly challenged about the way he ran things here."

"Enough! Please, let us not fight." Lord Shaxx said, stepping between Rose and Zavala, while Vlad took his place trying to calm Ikora. "This was meant to be a peaceful talk, not an argument." He added.

"Shaxx is right. Now you back off or so help me Zavala I will hurt you." Saladin said and for a long time, the two locked gazed until reluctantly Zavala backed down and stepped away from the table to show it. "Now, let us continue this as civil adult." He said.

"You threaten a Commander! You forget your place Saladin." Zavala snarled.

"You haven't been yourself ever since Rose came here, you've been a totally different person since the Fallen started to attack the City Walls again, more like the Zavala from her world than yourself! Whatever has happened to you, it needs to stop and it needs to stop now. You almost got Vlad and Orion killed when they went into the Bunker by insisting you let things play out!" Arielle snarled.

"Stop fighting all of you!" Watson stated as he woke from his short nap. "It's not Rose's fault that you are arguing, it is not her fault that you are all starting to suffer pains and aches either. You must listen to me all of you or you will suffer the same fate we did." He added.

"How did you know about our pains?" Ikora asked.

"Because I know what is happening, we figured it out in our last days, but we couldn't stop it, we'd gone too far. I know what has caused it to happen here." Watson said and then turned to Bing.

"What?" Bing asked. "What did I do?" he added hiding behind Rose.

"You didn't know," Watson assured, "It would have happened from any Ghost of our time or world or whatever this is. Right now it doesn't matter, what matters is stopping the same fate happening here. Our Traveler was sick, poisoned by the Hive and that illness spread to the Ghosts the Traveler made and through us the Poison effected the Guardians we served, filling them with doubts, fear, anger, making them weaker and weaker to the Darkness from within." He explained. "Every time a Ghost sent or downloaded a program from another Ghost or revived a Guardian or healed them the Poison spread further, over time Ghosts stopped working correctly, the Poison hidden as a line of code that was so well integrated to our programming we didn't catch it until it was too late. Even Overhauls only slowed it down."

"What do we do to stop it?" Wiccan asked from her recharge port as she activated. "We have all downloaded from Bing."

"Search out the programs Bing send you and look for the program strand 66-88-76-00-666." Rose's Watson explained, "You will notice it has grown in size since you downloaded it." He added as every Ghost ran scans and instantly found the program they had been given and watched in horror as it increased in size slowly.

"By the Traveler. How do we erase it?" Vakarian asked.

"I have the cure." Watson said, "The Speaker gave it to me before he and Cayde died. We couldn't save our Traveler but I can use it now and save you the same fate." He assured.

"Why do I sense a 'but'?" Rose asked.

"There is more." Watson bounced in a nod. "I am downloading it all to the data pad, since I have the cure the poison won't spread from me but this information is vital to you. Somehow the Vex of our world lost control of some of their technology and every enemy we faced is coming through rips and tears, coming here to try and claim the Light of this world as they did ours. The Speaker figured out what was happening and he tried to warn us, but we had become so lost in our own fears and doubts none of us listened until it was too late…"

"What changed?" Wrex asked. "What made you listen?"

"Of all things, Ace and J-Cey's message that Rose was missing made Cayde listen." Watson said, "they told him that you were gone and there was no trace of you, then word reached the Queen and she began to respond more, asking why you were gone, how you had left, we began to look into it more and realized that there were no Vex portals on the cliffs and the Speaker's words started to make sense."

"That's why she made them wait…" Rose said. "They thought I'd come back though."

Watson again bounced in a nod. "We all did. Even the Queen." He said. "Listen to me. The Darkness that took our world is coming here and it is not going to stop just because I cure the Infection inside the Ghosts here. It will keep coming and it will try to wear this world down as it did ours and the only way to stop it is to fight back as one united force, Hunters, Titans and Warlocks together, no matter their race or gender. Do not make the same mistakes we made."

"How do you know it will work?" Zavala growled. "Our ways have worked so far. And they are separated."

"We failed because we stood apart." Watson stated evenly. "Maybe if you took a moment to notice your Ghosts are duller than usually you would realize I am telling you the truth." He added and Zavala turned to his Ghost as the small creature floated at his side and true to Watson's word his Ghost's Shell was dull.

"I am so sorry… I didn't know that Poison was effecting me or that I had made you all sick… I'm sorry." Bing said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Vakarian said, "You didn't know you were ill or that you'd infected us. None of us knew."

"Can you cure us now?" Wiccan asked Watson as the other Ghosts came back online.

"I can, but it will leave you dazed and slightly groggy." Watson said then looked at Rose. "I won't be able to stay here after this, but at least I can go back to the Traveler knowing there is some hope left for our world."

"What do you mean?" Rose said. "Our world is gone. Destroyed by Darkness. There is nothing left of it."

"Oh I disagree." Watson said, "as long as you and Bing live, a part of it lives with you. And that is a much nicer thought to die with than thinking there is no hope left at all. Isn't it?"

Rose smiled and nodded. "Was Cayde… mad that I had gone missing with his gloves?" She asked.

"Not at all." Watson seemed to smile. "They are his lucky pair and right now, I think they are doing their job." He added and Rose smiled more nodding.

"What other tricks did he give you?" Cayde asked and Watson gave a knowing click.

"Wait and see," He said as the Ghosts gathered around him. "This is going to feel odd and the Guardians you are connected too will also feel something." He explained before his shell started to crack and chip. Slowly the shell opened and released a warm, bright light that filled the room so brilliantly that everyone had to cover their eyes.

Pain started to creep over their heads and minds until a sudden surge slammed into them, as if something physically had been pushed out of them and then just as suddenly it all stopped and everyone fell or slumped to the floor, awake but weakened by the brightness that had flooded the room.

Zavala, Cayde and Ikora had slumped against the table heavily while Arielle, Rose, Orion, Vlad and the two Lords had dropped to their knees, all shaking and feeling unwell. "Oh… I don't feel so good." Orion groaned.

"That makes all of us." Vlad said, wincing as his optics flooded with 0s and 1s. "Oh my head."

"You're head, my shell." Sovereign clicked slowly lifting off the table top. "He wasn't kidding… that really slowed my systems."

"He's gone." Bing said softly and true to his words, there was no sign of the Watson from Rose's world in the room any more, only in his place was a single card, slightly torn and charred around the edges but still readable.

"Nine of Hearts?" Ikora asked after blinking the spots from her eyes. "Why that card?"

"It's Cayde's card for me." Rose smiled slowly getting back to her feet. "Nine of Hearts is the Wish card, dreams and wishes that have a higher chance of being realized than others."

"I would have placed you as a Ten of Hearts myself." Cayde said, shaking his head. "Oh the doc's are gonna love me. Two trips in less than a week."

"I suggest that you call a temporary sickness leave," Eris said as she came to the room, "allow the doctors to check you all for any lasting injuries before returning to duty in the morning." She added.

"I second that." Cayde said before almost falling over again. "Come on Watson."

"Oh my aching shell," Wrex groaned. "I hurt in places I didn't even know I had."

"Rose."

Rose turned to Zavala as the Titan Commander as he slowly got back to his feet, forcing himself to stand tall as if he weren't effected though he did sway a little as he stood and looked at her.

"Yes Commander?" She asked.

"I owe you an apology. My behaviour… it has been unacceptable as of late and I know I have not been as welcoming as I should have been. I am sorry for that and for any pain I have caused you." He said.

"Accepted commander. But truly, you have nothing to be sorry for." She said, "You were right to be weary of us. If I had been in your place I'd have been weary too." She admitted with a small smile before going with Vlad and the others towards the Medical wards.

"It's gonna be a busy night, isn't it?" Wiccan asked Ikora.

"Indeed it is." Ikora nodded.

After a long, repetitive and seemingly endless amount of hours in the care of the doctors, and after being checked over one final time by Eris for any sign of corruption or illness that had once effected their Traveler, Vlad, Orion and Arielle were able to leave the doctors and told they could go rest, however it seemed Rose had more than minor injuries that the doctors wanted to check out before she was released.

Cayde, Ikora and Zavala were placed on light duty, which was to say that the doctors had forbidden Zavala from staying on his planned twelve hour shift pattern and told him he was to at the very least the three of them were to sit down for some portion of their day.

"Is she ok?" Vlad asked the doctor as Rose's head was cared for in a privet room.

"She's lucky she's survived this long, her Ghost healed her injuries, but he couldn't remove a fragment of metal in her skull that was pressed against her brain, removing it now will hopefully put an end to the head aches she gets and make the flashes she mentioned having much easier to cope with." The doctor explained.

"Will she be able to leave soon?" Arielle asked.

"Oh yes, she's just getting a last check before we release her." The doctor nodded just as the door opened and Bing floated out of the room with Rose right behind him.

"You ok?" Vlad asked.

"I feel a little dizzy, but I'm good." Rose smiled.

"I don't know how I missed it." Bing bleeped, "It's been there this whole time and I missed it."

"It's not your fault." Rose said, catching her ghost gently in her hands, "You don't have hands so you couldn't have removed it anyway and we didn't have good doctors back home."

"Still, I should have seen it… I messed up big time, I didn't realize I was making people sick, or that was I making things worse by letting everyone download things from me. I could have ruined everything." Bing said, floating up from her hands.

"You didn't know," Orion said. "We'd never blame you for something you didn't know, that would be wrong of us. Besides, it's all over now and everyone is ok." He added.

"Still…" Bing said.

"Still nothing." Vakarian said. "You've said sorry and we've forgiven you, don't dwell on it or you will only drag yourself down." He stated.

"Vakarian is right, now, what say we all go, have a nice long soak in the shower and then sleep for the rest of the day before we swing by the bounty board and do so night hunting?" Arielle asked.

Rose smiled a little, "That sounds like a very good plan." She said catching Bing in her hands gently again and petting his shell.

"Then that is what we will do." Arielle smiled. "Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter seven.

The Hive.

News of the new Hive spread rapidly and sent the Guardians scrambling to protect the Moon from becoming the Hive's once again.

With Fallen at the walls and now Hive somewhere in the shadows, the Vanguard were passing on more and more work to their finest agents, missions to hunt and kill any Hive in the Solar System while also sending regular patrols around the Cosmodrome.

Eris spent hours on end in her privet room or in the darkness of her corner with those few Guardians who had become friends of the former Hunter, acting as visual assurance to her after she came from her meditations while Cayde and Ikora took turns to insure Eris ate at least something. Lord Saladin and Lord Shaxx began to work together, breaking down their teams and student groups and mixing them together for joint lessons, insure they were ready while the Fanatical groups were given strict orders to get their guardians into shape to fight.

The Queen not only received Arielle's report about the incident but also one from each of her team mates, Lindor's entire team and from Rose, each containing the recorded footage from their Ghosts to show the sudden drain in Light they had suffered during the attack.

That had prompted the Reef to increase security and the Queen herself opened a comm channel with Ikora to insure they had constant contact and were able to keep track of the threat.

It was strange, but at the same time it worked and it worked well. There was a genuine concern on both ends and for that reason no one argued over the fact the Queen and the Vanguard were sharing control over Guardians and the Awoken, not even Uldren argued when Cayde-6 suggested the Crows and some veteran Hunters pair up for longer patrols through the Solar system to search out and take down any other Servants of Crota while search for Omnigul, who for the time seemed to have gone to ground somewhere.

Other members of Crota's Sec however, were not so silent, they surged from the shadows, throngs of Hive along with them to try and avenge their fallen God, attacking Guardians from the darkness of the Cosmodrome, reclaiming the Moon and attempting to take Saturn and free their captured kin from the Prison of Elders.

The Warden Variks used to monitor the Prison however, was not easily defeated and instead of freeing their kin the attacking Hive became prisoners themselves, though they did not remain in good health for very long, as Variks had set up new challenges for the Guardians who visited the Prison.

And that was where Vlad and Rose were now, with new threats to their Tower, Vlad had asked Arielle to talk to Variks and have him grant Rose a Prison Sigel so that the Warden would get them into the restricted Prison levels that Variks had 'locked' Skolas and his Wolf pack in and thus, earn the better wears the former scribe had stashed in his hut.

There was, however a small part of that deal no one thought to mention to Bing and that was that Ghosts had to stay out of the restricted levels of the Prison, just to make sure that the Guardians could be revived in a safe location if they both died, a twist Variks used to stop point cheating and to stop Guardians from piggybacking on each other.

So, while Sovereign rested on a recharge dock beside Petra, who had come down to watch the two Hunters work while gathering a list of still at large Fallen for her Bounties, Bing floated back and forth, his shell twitching and shifting as he waited for Rose, Petra could only think of it as the Ghost pacing.

"Do you always do that when your Guardian isn't with you?" Petra asked as the screen lit up with an explosion from a rocket that very nearly took Vlad's left arm off before Rose unloaded her clip into the attacking Fallen.

"Not always, just when she could get hurt." Bing said, though he still floated back and forth. "Rose is my Guardian, I'm meant to keep her alive. That's what Ghosts do, we keep our Guardians alive and we make sure they are ok so they can fight the Darkness. That's why the Traveller made Ghosts."

"But you seem awfully concerned for her." Petra said, signing another Bounty to her list. "I mean I get you two are the last of your world, but I doubt her friends would let her get hurt."

"All Ghosts worry about their Guardians, no matter who else is with them. I'm just no good at hiding it." Bing admitted, at last stopping his pacing to look at her. "And Rose is special, at least to me, she's never stopped trying to make things right even when things around us where going so wrong." He added.

"She does have something to her," Petra admitted as a second explosion lit up the screen this time from Rose's Rocket launcher as she took down half a dozen Dregs and a pair of Vandals that had Vlad pinned down before the two rushed for new cover. "But by the look of her, I doubt she needs a lot of help."

"She's always been careful, even when we were on the Tower helping to take down Dregs and Vandals with Cayde so Rose could practice her aim she was slow and took her time, but she never misses a head shot." Bing seemed to bounce with pride. "Cayde said it's because she has good eyes."

Petra couldn't help but smile, talking to this Ghost was so different then Vakarian or the other Ghosts she'd come to know. Vakarian would be careful of what he did and did not say around Petra and Variks, Wrex would always try to outdo Variks and always wanted to fight the bigger bounties and Sovereign was often sarcastic and blunt, but Bing had no worry or fear of either of them and spoke with what Petra could only say was genuine emotion.

"You are very trusting with your information." She said watching the screen as Rose and Vlad double teamed a Fallen Captain.

"Rose says it's safe here," Bing said with a soft click. "So I don't have to keep secretes. At least not from important people, like the Queen or the Vanguard, Rose says that keeping things form them is bad and they'll be unhappy if we keep things from them. And you and Variks helped us before, so it would be rude to keep secretes from you."

"And how do you know we won't use those secretes to hurt Rose?" Petra asked with a small smirk, trying to look intimidating.

The Ghost however seemed to know she was bluffing and twisted his shell with a small bleep. "Because if you wanted to hurt Rose, you'd have done it by now. You've had plenty of time and chances." Bing stated with a matter of fact like ring to his words. "Besides, the Petra we knew said she'd never hurt a fellow Awoken unless they did something bad towards the Queen and Rose would never do anything like that."

Petra smiled, that was true in more ways than one; Rose had proven that she had no ill desire towards the Queen, though her verbal beating of the Prince in his own game had given the Queen a smile for a few days.

"Did Rose ever see the Queen of your world? Face to face I mean." Petra asked, wanting to sate her own curiosity, given how well Rose spoke of the Queen in her world.

"We were near to her, but I don't know if the Queen really ever saw us. She never really showed much sign of movement or recognition after she fell to silence." Bing explained. "Rose would always bow her head to the Queen when she passed even when her eye were closed, Petra use to say even if the Queen didn't respond to us it didn't mean she wasn't watching. It was a little scary at first but I think being with Rose helped me not be so worried I'd do something to upset the Queen."

"Why would you think you had upset her?" Petra asked, she knew that her Queen was not fond of many Ghosts, those who were rude and spoke out of turn though she showed some liking towards Vakarian for his work alongside Arielle, but Petra never thought a Ghost would do something to truly upset the Queen.

"She didn't seem to like Ghosts very much where we came from, so I tried not to be around her too much until I found Rose, even then I stayed closer to Rose than anyone else when we went to see Petra or Variks. I was always worried if I got too close the Queen would be angry." Bing stated.

"I see," Petra said before the whole Prison shook and rattled with a death roar from deep within. "I think they just killed something big." She added.

"Was that the last round?" Bing asked looking at the screen.

"Looks like it." Petra smiled as Variks unlocked the trophy room, "They should be out soon." She added while double checking the list she had. "And I have all the names I need."

"More hunting for everyone." Bing chimed.

"I was wondering why Orion hadn't been around yet." Petra admitted in an unspoken Question.

"Arielle told him he didn't need to go hunting, she wants them to spend time together so she made him promise no hunting for a while." Bing explained in answer. "Wrex keeps reminding him he isn't allowed to hunt."

"Ah," Petra chuckled. "That explains it." She added as the two Hunters climbed out of the Prison Vault and headed back towards them, following the Warden as it lead them back to where their Ghosts were waiting, looking tired but satisfied with themselves as they followed the Warden.

"Well, that was fun." Vlad said as Sovereign hovered up to his shoulder.

"Tiring you mean," Rose smiled as Bing bumped lightly against her helm. "You were worried."

"Yes." He admitted and then settled himself on her head.

Petra couldn't help but smile.

"New bounties?" Vlad asked nodding to the list in her hands.

"Yes, a long list and not a lot of time or people to spare for it." Petra sighed. "We are starting to become stretched."

"Arielle and Orion might be up for them in a few days," he smiled, "Zavala reminded Orion he had two weeks of leave left to use and if he didn't take time off he'd make it an order." The Exo explained.

Petra chuckled, that did explain why Arielle's com had been turned off and why Vakarian hadn't been answering for her.

"What do you think Variks will have for rewards?" Sovereign asked as they left the Prison.

"Cloaks, Bonds, Marks, Weapons and maybe a nice trinket." Vlad smiled. "He always has something good for those who can run the restricted prison levels."

"Is that how Arielle got her Gantlets?" Rose asked.

"No, those were a gift, she never told me where she got them, but I do know she has never changed them." Vlad explained, "But they sure as hell make her a nasty person to anger, I've seen Guardians in the Crucible and in the Iron Banner go down without Arielle even trying."

"Wow." Rose said. "I hope I never end up on the receiving end." She added.

"That makes all of us." Petra assured as they entered their ships and headed back to the outpost. "I've seen Arielle at her worst and I never want to see her like that again."

 _~ "What do you mean?" ~_ Rose asked. _~ "Arielle doesn't seem the kind to get really, really angry easily." ~_

 _~ "She's not." ~_ Vlad said, _~ "But there have been times Arielle has become so angry, be it thought someone else's carelessness or someone saying something that hits her wrong, she will lash out and Traveller help whoever is on the end of her wrath." ~_

 _~ "That bad?" ~_ Rose asked.

"Ask Variks to show you the footage from Arielle's fight with the Wolves of this world sometime, you'll get the idea." Petra said as they floated into their stations at the dock.

"Do we have to give Variks back the Sigel?" Bing asked as he floated along beside Rose.

"No, those are good for a week, then you have to get a new one." Vlad said rolling his shoulders, "Remind me to oil my shoulders when we get back to the tower."

"A good fight." Variks said as they approached, "Well done." he praised with what Vlad thought might have been a smile as he looked over the wears the Fallen Vandal had to offer them.

"What have you got for us?" The Exo asked looking at the branded wears and the weapons that had been freshly cleaned and laid out for them to inspect.

"Many gifts. Some from the Queen herself, others Variks acquired through other means." The Vandal said with a dark chuckle.

"I will save myself the nightmares and not ask." Sovereign said.

"What's that?" Bing asked, and Variks followed the smaller Ghost's single gaze and saw the butt of a rifle poking out of its place.

"That is still in progress, not for sale yet." He explained, "Maybe next time." He added, as Rose picked out the sniper rifle.

"Incoming message from Cayde." Sovereign said, "Another Hive outbreak, they're on Earth again."

"Better get back and help with clean up." Vlad huffed softly, "So much for that hot shower."

"You can shower when we are done Hive hunting and then brag to Orion you beat his kill record." Rose said nodding to the board Variks kept scores on.

"Titan has been absent too long." Variks chuckled in his way.

"Oh he's gonna hate me." Vlad chuckled. "Took him weeks to get that many kills." He added as they headed off to their ships.

"So don't tell him until Arielle lifts the no hunting rule." Rose suggested.

Vlad chuckled. "I give him two weeks and he's begging Arielle to let him run the Prison solo." He said as they left the Reef, "Then again, maybe he's learnt by now."

"Maybe, or maybe he'll relapse when they get back in the field." Rose said with a smile. "So where are we going on Earth?"

"Sky Watch, Forgotten shores and the Moth Yards are reporting heavy Hive activity." Sovereign said. "Ogres, Knights, Acolytes and Thrall coming out of the ground in swarms and the numbers just keep going up."

"Could they be Wizard broods?" Rose asked, "They do summon Hive from apparently nowhere." She reminded.

"Possibly but there aren't many Wizards that can constantly summon broods." Vlad said, "At least not that I know of."

"Eris would know more." Rose said, "I know that Omnigul can do it. But I never really faced many Hive Wizards back in my world, they were below the surface of the Moon while Thrall, Acolytes and Knights patrolled the surface."

"Any information is better than nothing." Vlad reminded with a smile. "Let's just hope Arielle and Orion are on the field soon, I'm about to break Arielle's record of Hive kills." He adds.

"Better not tell her that face to face," Sovereign stated. "She'll lock you in the storage room and triple her kills before she lets you out again."

Eris released a long sigh, slowly leaving the shadows of her meditation and began to caress the ball in her hands, collecting herself as the light of her room slowly grew brighter.

The shadows were helpful, but their lingering coldness made her shudder even now she was so close to the light, even with the windows blacked out and the room being in the darkest part of the tower.

There were old names in the shadows but new fears, far worse than any she had seen in her years on the Moon, lost in the darkness of the tunnels while Crota and his Generals plotted and schemed around her.

Omnigul was stronger, more twisted and wicked with her cruelty, her rage and fury at eth loss of Crota echoed in the darkness, filling the Hive with more rage and anger, but it did not mask the others who hid in wait, The Swarm Princes were also enraged and so too were many of the Generals Eris had learnt from the Moon.

And there were more still hidden deeper in the shadows that she dared not search out alone, but she had seen them move and seen them reach and try to grab at the slowly growing light that burned them, young sparks of Arc energy dancing about embers of Sol…

The ball of light was starting to grow small, and soon it would fade.

There was a gentle knock at her door, drawing her from her thoughts. "Enter."

"I brought you some food," Cayde said as the door slid open for him. "And something to drink." He added.

"How long was I in darkness?" The former hunter asked as he placed the tray down on the small table.

"Just short of 37 hours." Cayde said. "Ikora came by last night, but you were still meditating."

"I see," She said slowly standing from her place in the centre of a glowing green mark upon the floor. "Have I worried anyone?"

"Not that I have noticed, but you have been missed, The Queen has sent me two messages in the last four hours asking for your report as she couldn't reach you herself." He admitted.

"I must apologize to her." Eris said while Cayde placed a small stack of data pads on a shelf, "More reports?"

"Detailed to the brim with information from Guardians and Awoken. Things are getting bad out there Eris, and I've got this nagging feeling that this is gonna get worse before it gets better." Cayde said and she knew he was trying to ask nicely if he was right to assume that or if he was just getting paranoid.

"Life is never easy before times of peace." She said and Cayde sighed, shoulders sagging and for a moment, Eris could have sworn she saw the human Cayde-6 had once been in place of the Exo. "Rose will need her Arrows soon."

"But with the whole system on high alert and all that had happened to her, can we really send her off alone?" Cayde asked looking at her, "You see things in her I can't and I don't mean because of the third eye. You know she's not a seasoned Guardian."

"But it is wrong of us to baby her, when her own world was far harsher and cruel then our own." Eris reminded. "She is a survivor Cayde, I have seen it in her eyes, a fire that burns without heat or purpose until she in engaged in battle then it becomes an inferno and I have seen the sparks of lightning that dance across her eyes, new and bright and yet she pays it no mind. She will be accepted by the Void."

"But at what price?" Cayde asked. "The Void is kind to the Titans and Warlocks, it gives them a taste and then sends them on their way to the Sun and Storm…"

"You worry she will change with the Void?" Eris asked.

"All Hunters change with the Void." Cayde reminded, "Vlad, Zaragosa, me, you, all Hunters lose something to the Void and it changes us."

"If she is to become part of this world, she must join the Void." Eris said softly, "Or when the darkness comes, it may consume her."

"You saw it?" Cayde asked and Eris nodded, clutching the orb to her chest. "Eris?"

"They try to claw at her even now, trying to hurt her from the shadows, weakening what little light protects her. She must connect with the Void, or Rose will fade." Eris explained clutching her orb.

Cayde nodded, though he did not like what he would have to do nor that he would have to explain this to Arielle and Orion as he opened his comm-link. "Arielle."

Eris nodded and looked to her orb, taking a moment to reach out to the Queen and show her what she had seen and ask her a small favour.

Meanwhile two ships came into dock and Holiday smiled watched Rose and Vlad stumble tiredly from their ships and head for the dorms.

Clearing out Hive lasted until the very wee hours of the morning and knowing most Guardians would be asleep at this hour the two were as silent as possible as they slipped into the room and showered before bed, Orion poked his head from the room he and Arielle were now sharing when the shower went off and gave them a small wave before heading back to bed himself.

Bing settled on the pillow of Rose's bed and gave a quiet bleep as he began to shut down for the night while Rose towel dried her hair, pausing and looking at the gathered Ghosts from her home.

Seven in total, each one had once been colourful and full of light and life, but now they were cold, dull and barely held on to what little light they had left within them, the Speaker had said he couldn't revive them himself as their shells were locked in place from stress and fear and the revival would only hurt them if a stranger preformed it and had suggested instead that Rose attempt to calm the fear that still held the Ghosts captive and that would allow the Ghosts to leave in their own time as Watson had done.

So Rose had brought them to her room and gently cleaned them of the dirt and grime before wrapping them together in her cloak again and placed them on the bed beside her, there was a comfortable tug at her light and she smiled as she laid down to sleep, allowing her light to comfort the Ghosts who sought peace before they passed back into the Traveler.

Uldren resisted the urge to find the nearest incinerator and throw the reports that covered his desk into it as he signed yet another report off and added it to the even larger pile of finished documents that needed to be filed away.

No less than seventeen sightings of Ravens, each one closer than he would like them to be to the edge of the Reef boundaries, each one daring to get that little bit closer.

He did not like it.

He didn't like that even with the added help and information from the Tower, the Ravens were still a large threat even with Cayde's apparent finest taking down Ravens that did dare to get too close. It was stressful beyond words but it had to be done if he was to keep the Reef and his Queen safe and so, he tolerated the reports that piled high upon his desk and made sure to read through them all and search for anything in them that might help keep the Reef safe.

He heard a knock on his door and swallowed the desire to groan. "Enter." He called and the door opened to show a young Guard stood in the entrance, she bowed in respect before speaking.

"Prince Uldren, Her Grace sends for you," she said.

"Where is the Queen now?" he asked standing from his desk.

"The Throne room," The Guard stated and stepped aside as he came out of the room.

"Thank you, dismissed." He bid and the Guard bowed again before returning to her duties.

The walk to the Throne room passed his finest guards and handpicked Titans from the Tower who now acted as added buff to the security and also as Defenders should an attack ever come close to the Queen again and before he reached the doors of the throne room he saw two of Ikora's Warlocks along with his own chosen guards at the ready to protect the Queen.

He had heard Guardians talk about how high the security was at the Tower now as well and his own Crows had told him of the larger torrents of the wall that had been built and placed ready to defend the City.

"And the Tower can spare such resources?" Petra asked from inside the room as he entered.

"With the amount of parts we have spare thanks to the salvage teams yes, but we don't know where they would be better suited here, the Walls already has hundreds placed around it and the larger turrets on the heads of the Towers have been reactivated." Lindor stated as Terrik and Zaragosa laid out the large scroll they were holding. "Commander Zavala wants to insure we are ready for anything and these turrets may help keep the Ravens further away."

"And you are sure they can be used here?" the Queen asked as she looked over the plans she had been shown. "This is not a solid planet and the Reef will move with time."

"We tested them from high orbit around Venus and Mars, so we know they will fire out here," Terrik nodded "And that is why we need to know where you need them to be placed and how many you will need, as you said Your Grace, this is not a planet and we don't want to set up a weapon somewhere they could drift off and end up in enemy hands."

"Uldren." The Queen said and all eyes fell on him as he approached, looking over the blue prints and images of turrets he had heard about from his crows.

"The Tower is giving us torrents?" he asked.

"Rapid firing, universal, infinite stream Turrets." Petra corrected handing him the data pad she had been reading. "Ikora's design, taken from the Golden Age and redefined to fire everything from bullets and Rockets to Plasma and Fusion energy."

"Impressive, but have they been tested against Ravens?"

"They have," Zaragosa nodded and nodded to his Ghost who began to project footage on the far wall. "Video footage from the Guardians who tested the turrets and the most recent results of our test firing from high orbit on the Moon."

Uldren watched as the turret hummed into life for a few seconds before firing a hail of bullets rapidly down on to the incoming Hive charging them, pausing for a spilt second before the bullets were replaced by swiftly firing fusion blasts that brought down Knights with seeming ease, then from the back of the turret came a barrage of Rockets taking down a trio of Ogres at the back of the charge and the Acolytes around them.

Petra gave a sound of approval. "You weren't kidding about the Universal part."

"Ikora's been working on this idea for years, ever since the Black Garden was opened," Lindor explained, "It was meant to be to clear out Vex, but as time went past and we discovered the Hive and Cabal and now the Ravens, she's added and tweaked things."

"An intelligent move." The Queen stated and Uldren felt her gaze on him as he continued to study the plans and thought about where best these new additions would be useful and where they would be safe from floating off.

"Hmmm… can they be installed on ships such as this Ketch long term?" he asked.

Lindor nodded. "They can, but we would need to reinforce the panels were the turret goes to insure no damage." She explained.

"Incoming transmission from Cayde-6." The Hunter's Ghost stated suddenly, "He says it is urgent."

"Let's hear it." Zaragosa said as his Ghost bounded in a nod, opening up to increase the signal as Cayde's voice filtered through.

 _~ "You receiving me Zaragosa?" ~_

"Yes Cayde."

 _~ "Good, if you and the team are still talking with the Queen show her this new feed I'm sending you, it's another of Ikora's toys she's had Amanda working on." ~_ He explained as a video feed arrived in the Ghost.

"He sounds unhappy." Petra said.

"I think I know why," Zaragosa said and nodded as his Ghost began to project the footage. "How has Amanda kept that under wraps?!"

Uldren watched the footage and felt his eyes widen as a large ship flew above a Cabal base on Mars and opened fire with a hail of bullets from twin Gatling guns and rockets, taking down Centurions and other Cabal like flies.

"Very impressive." The Queen said and he heard the awe in her voice.

 _~ "It is called 'Hail Storm'. And Ikora asks how many do you want and should she ask Holiday to get them painted in your colours?" ~_ Cayde asked with a slight hint of envy and Uldren smiled inwardly, Cayde-6 apparently wanted one of those very ships for himself and was envious that the Reef was getting the first wave of them.

After deciding where the Turrets would go and how many ships they would need, the Guardians left and Uldren turned and knelt beside his Queen. "My Queen?"

"Eris has contacted me," she said and he nodded. "She has seen something troubling in the darkness, something that could do us all harm and something concerning your friend." She added with the barest hint of a smile.

He winced inwardly at the word referring to the Hunter who had beaten him at his own game.

"What of her?" He asked hoping the growl was not evident in his voice.

Apparently it was as the Queen's smile grew just that tiny bit for a second before it faded and her expression became cold and serious once again. "The darkness attempts to reach her through the shadows, if she is to survive, she must touch the void and become a Nightstalker." The Queen told him.

"What is that to do with us?" he asked. "There are plenty of Void Chambers between us and the Tower."

"None that are active." His Queen explained. "Only the Chamber beyond the Reef is still active and able to produce the Bow she needs if she is to stay safe in the darkness."

Uldren gave a slight hum of understanding. "And Arielle will not leave her at a low level."

"Not so long as light still burns within her." The Queen nodded. "Which leaves us with a small problem." She added.

"My Queen?" he asked.

"If the Hunter is to enter the Void Chamber, she must leave the safety of our boundaries. And she must also be able to get back inside. And only you know the safe ways in."

Ah. Yes, that might be an issue.

Uldren had set multiple mines out in the Reef boundaries and while getting past them on the way out was easy, it was near impossible to get back in if one did not know what they were doing.

Uldren would have to help the Hunter get back inside if she survived getting her Void Bow.

"Set aside the fact she bested you at your own game of words and aid her. Or face Arielle's wrath and mine." The Queen told him and Uldren bowed his head.

"I understand my Queen."

"Good." She said and waved him away.

Arielle and Orion woke to the smell of pancakes, from the kitchen and the sound of quiet conversation between Vlad and Rose, Vakarian and Wrex still in recharge while they washed and dressed before going out for breakfast.

"Pancakes for breakfast?" Orion asked with a smile. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, Rose wanted to try them and you know me, never one to say no to pancakes." Vlad chuckled, pushing a large plate of fresh pancakes towards the two. "Enjoy."

"What's the plan for today?" Arielle asked, filling her plate.

"Bounties from Petra just came in and a few dozen calls for assistance along the wall and in the Cosmodrome, we were late in due to Hive clearance last night." Vlad said, "And I get that nagging feeling we'll be going by Mars and Venus again soon, I heard from a few Warlocks on the way in that the Archives have been breached again and the Cabal are beefing up in numbers as well."

"Great. So we have a whole new wave of Cabal to face and someone's after the history in the Archives." Arielle sighed.

"Petra asked after you both," Bing said as he twisted and turned his shell, "She said the Reef was starting to become stretched with all the extra security."

"Looks like we need to get back in the field then," Arielle smiled as Vakarian floated out to hover at her side and relay all the messages she had received while they were 'off duty'. "But you better not steal my kills again."

"Yes Arielle." Orion said ducking his head while Vlad chuckled. "But we do have some catching up to do."

"Vlad broke your record in the Prison." Sovereign stated, "And he's almost beaten your score in Hive killing Arielle." He added and Vlad waved his Ghost off.

"Well that changes today." Arielle smiled, cracking her knuckles, "I'll make sure of that."

"Incoming message from Ikora." Vakarian stated. "Mars and Venus reporting Ravens, they want someone to clear them out."

"To Mars?" Orion asked Arielle.

"To Mars." The Warlock nodded. "But first we stop by Xür. See what he has to offer us."

"Xür?" Rose asked.

"And Agent of the Nine, he comes and goes between her and the Reef for a few days every week and he sells Exotic Engrams and Weapons from the Golden Ages, like the S.G.A and the Zen Meteor." Orion said.

"S.G.A?" Bing asked.

"Super Good Advice, it's a machine gun and the Zen Meteor is a sniper rifle." Arielle smiled, "if we are lucky he might let you test fire some of the weapons he brings. The Nine seem to have a stock pile of them somewhere."

Rose nodded and took another forkful of her pancakes.

After breakfast, the four headed out, finding the Agent of the Nine tucked away in the darkness near the Crucible Quarter Master, while Vlad and Orion debated over which of the weapons was better, Shaxx waved Arielle over and spoke to her quietly about something while Rose glanced over the many skulls Shaxx had on the wall.

"Where did they all come from?" she heard Bing ask as he floated by one of the large skulls.

"Days long before the city was this strong." Shaxx said, "Maybe one day I will tell you more about them."

"Ready to go?" Vlad asked after purchasing some odd looking items from Xür.

They moved off those Shaxx noticed Xür seemed to be watching Rose more than the others as she followed after the trio, he would speak with eth Vanguard about it if he caught the Agent doing it again.

"So we take out a few Raven nests, maybe a few Cabal Centurions and then go check the Garden is still dead and gone?" Orion asked.

"We'll see what the day has for us." Arielle said. "We have a lot to do if the reports are right about the Ravens."

"Rose."

Rose stopped and turned at her name to find Eris waiting for her. "A moment alone?" The former hunter asked.

"Sure." Rose nodded and followed Eris to the balcony near the entrance of the North wing. "What's wrong?"

"The shadows I have seen in my meditation, I know their faces and names but not their power. It is beyond the grasp of anything I saw in my time in that Pit." She explained and then turned to Rose, "And I saw some of them trying to get to you in the darkness."

"Me?" Rose asked.

"Your hand slew Crota this time, your hand brought about the death of their God. And Omnigul will not rest until you are dead or she is brought to her end once more." Eris explained and then sighed deeply. "I have seen terrible things in the darkness Rose, things I wish I could un-see and erase from my mind and now I see them turning their gaze to you."

Rose shuddered, she knew better than to think she could have escaped the Hive's gaze after Crota's defeat, but she had not thought their plotting would reach her so soon.

"What should I do?" Rose asked, if anyone could help her against the Hive it was Eris, the one who had gone down into the Pit and come back out, changed but still willing to help even with so many who at first doubted and questioned her loyalty.

Eris shook her head. "I have no power to help you physically, but I can tell you this if ever you see darkness in your dreams, hear the songs of darkness or feel their claws at your mind, if you ever feel you are alone, come to me and I will do all I can to push them from your mind."

She saw the confusion in Rose's eyes even as the younger Hunter nodded. "I don't understand what you mean Eris, but I will do as you ask."

"Thank you." She said. "Go now, Arielle is waiting for you."

"Thank you Eris." Rose said and headed towards the docks where Arielle had hung back waiting for her.

"What did she say?" the Warlock asked.

"She wanted me to go see her if the Hive start messing with my head." Rose explained, "She says they are trying to get to me, but until they get in my head, she can't help me keep them away."

"Let's hope they stay away for now, we're gonna need your help making sure we kill those Ravens," Arielle said.

"I hope they stay away forever." Rose said, "They are scary enough without having them in my head."

"I hear that." Arielle nodded. "But for now, let's forget them and deal with the Ravens and go from there."

"Fine by me." Rose nodded.

She watched silently from her place, following the Hunter as she had been instructed. She had grown since their last meeting, both in light and in confidence she could see that just in how the Hunter carried herself now. She'd been given new orders to speak with the Hunter again, find out all she could about her and report back to them.

So she followed the group to Mars and watched as they joined a party of Guardians before they moved out together, heading for the largest of the Raven nest sites in the Valley of Kings.

She watched their Ghosts take shelter inside their armour, likely for safety from the Ravens as she carefully settled in for a long wait, trying to think of a safe way to get the Hunter alone and how to approach her.

She was always with someone it seemed and she was certainly more aware of her surrounding snow than she had been in the Vault of glass, but she doubted inviting the Guardian out alone would result in a one of one meeting. No she had to be more inventive about this, she would have to think of a way to get the Hunter alone, but not appear a threat to those who had accepted her as their team mate.

It would be a challenge, but she had time on her side and she could wait until the right time to speak to the Guardian.

Orion watched carefully as Rose climbed up a broken and ruined wall, taking her time and checking the path was stable before she waved down for others to follow, having faced Ravens before she was best to lead this mission and so she had set them up. Three Sunbreakers and two Defenders would stay down on the ground near cover while the Stormcallers and Hunters climbed to higher ground, the Stormcallers would take shelter where they could and wait for the Nightstalkers to get in to position.

When everyone was ready Rose would give the signal and the Nightstalkers would use their arrows to tether the Ravens giving the Stormcallers and Sunbreakers time to bring them down with their Supers or fire power. Rose reached a safe place and looked out over the nesting sight carefully, watching for any sign the Ravens had seen anyone before nodding and waving those following her to move.

 _~ "Rose, how do we know this will work?" ~_ Someone asked over the comms.

"It worked as just Hunters when we tried it where I'm from." Rose answered. "Though we didn't have Defenders to help cover us or Stormcallers to help keep them from flying off." She added.

 _~ "So this should work better than it did in your world." ~_ Vlad said.

"Should." Rose nodded. "Everyone ready?" She asked and there was a collective affirmative, Rose watched carefully for a perfect shot and smiled. "Aim and… Fire."

Four arrows hit the nest area and Void tethers grabbed the Ravens before they could take off, allowing the Thunder and Lightning of the Stormcallers and the Sol Hammers to rain down on the Ravens while Rose lined up and fired her Sniper rife with practiced ease.

"Keep at it!" Arielle yelled focusing her light down her arms.

"Tether's lost!" Vlad yelled as the Ravens began to flare their wings and take off.

"Aim for the wings!" Rose yelled. "Ground them!"

"Look out!" Arielle yelled as a Raven charged them and Rose ducked into the small cover she had, snatching up her smaller hand cannon and unloaded the clip into the back and wings of the attacking Raven.

After what felt like hours of shooting, the last Raven fell to the ground.

"Rose?" Orion asked when he couldn't see the younger Hunter, only for Vlad to wave him over as Rose limped out of her cover. "What happened?"

"I fell funny." She admitted, favouring her left leg. "We need to deal with this mess before more Ravens show up."

"Same as the Reef? Bleed 'em, burn the blood then get rid of the carcass elsewhere?" the Titan asked and Rose nodded allowing Bing out to heal her leg now it was safer to do so. "Could we take the blood back to the Tower and use it there? Just in case?"

"If you can stand the smell of Raven blood." Rose nodded. "It is foul."

"We'll manage." Orion nodded.

"Anyone else got a feeling of eyes on their back?" Vlad asked quietly.

"Have since we got here." Arielle nodded.

"Let's get this place sorted and then go," Rose said. "I'm getting shivers."

"I hear that." Orion nodded as they set about their tasks, though Arielle and Vlad made sure to scan the area every few seconds, searching for whatever it was that was watching them until at last they could leave, dragging toe Raven carcasses away from the patrol routes.

"Incoming transmission Arielle." Vakarian said just as they left the Atmosphere of Mars. "Privet channels. From Ikora."

"Let's hear it." Arielle nodded and Vakarian opened his shell to allow clearer connection.

 _~ "Bring Rose to Tower Six." ~_ Ikora said, her tone grave and her voice heavy with something Arielle had learnt was controlled anger. _~ "She must see what we have uncovered." ~_

"Understood." Arielle said and opened a channel to Rose. "When we reach earth, follow me."

 _~ "Something happen?" ~_ Rose asked.

"Ikora wants us on Tower Six." Arielle stated.

 _~ "Got it." ~_ Rose answered.

They reached Earth within the hour and Arielle broke off from the group, followed by Rose heading for Tower Six, still under heavy repair even with all the fighting going on around the walls and left their ships hovering by what was left of a docks while they trasmated onto the tower.

"Ikora?" Arielle called out as they looked around, noticing the docks were bare of Guardians venders and all other fixtures, as if they were just ripped away by a powerful force and the Tower was left to ruin and rot.

The air was heavy with the scent of decay and death and the atmosphere made Arielle uncomfortable.

"This way." Rose said carefully making her way around the broken mess as if she had been there before.

Arielle followed her steps, watching as Bing flittered into life and looked around slowly, his shell lowering as they make their way towards the Plaza, seeing the Ghosts shudder and float closer to Rose as they passed the area Amanda usually sat only to see the large dry stains of blood on the floor.

"It's like home." Bing said sadly.

"It _is_ Home." Rose corrected pointing at a broken mess that had once been so familiar to them both. "That's where the Queen sat with Petra and Variks."

"How is this possible?" Arielle asked.

"I have no idea…" Rose admitted, jumping over the large hole in the floor. "This was how my tower was… just not as clean." She added looking around. "What's going on?"

"We believe the Vex and Hive are to blame." Ikora said she and Eris stepped from the shadows. "Come."

The Guardians followed and Ikora lead them to what remained of the Plaza, where the smell of blood and decay was strongest and Rose had to cover her mouth and nose, trying not to stand in the blood stains that littered the floor.

"What is going on?" Arielle asked as they at last reached a relatively clear area. "How is this- if this is Rose's Tower how is it here and why is it like this?"

"We found evidence of Hive Wizards tampering with Vex technology in some reports we found in what we think is Cayde's room in this Tower." Eris said, holding out a small stack of data pads and a few scraps of paper to Rose. "I have translated as much as I can, but I do not know any of these codes."

Rose took them carefully and looked them over, recognizing some names and easily understand the code Cayde used to write the notes, Vex tech in the hands of Hive Wizards and some kind of ritual they had done, causing a sudden surge in the darkness and also an increase in Fallen showing up.

"They were trying to spread the darkness across all of time and space using the Vex tech." Rose said after reading the notes, "he doesn't say how, but he does say that Eris had been muttering about some kind of spell before she went to fight for the Reef with the Awoken." She explained.

"So the fall of your world was caused by the Hive meddling with the Technology of the Vex." Arielle said.

"According to this, their meddling caused the Vex tech to glitch on a huge scale, reports came in about Vex portals just appearing in mid-air or in the middle of dark zones and Hive swarming them, then somehow the Fallen got hold of it and they started to use it for their own devices as well." Rose said. "It would explain how I got here from my world with all this messing with the Vex tech."

"And how this Tower is so like the one of your world." Eris said, "And that leads us to a new problem."

"What do you mean?" Arielle asked.

"If this Tower is covered in the damages from Rose's world, what else could be effected here from Rose's world?" Ikora said and Arielle shuddered as she realized just what Ikora was talking about. "If the two worlds collide, we may face a full scale assault from every angle and then some and no matter how we prepare for it, we can't protect the City if the threat just appears inside the City."

"There has to be a way to stop this." Rose said, "If my world imprints on yours…"

"We are working on a solution, but it is taking longer than we thought it would due to our lack of understanding about the Vex technology." Ikora admitted, "Eris has given us all she can about these new Hive and the recordings and data we gained from Watson has been more help than we thought it could be and it has been added to somehow by each Ghost you have brought to us, but we fear we need more if we are to stop our world colliding, with deserters results."

"The Commander's Ghost." All eyes fell on Bing as he hovered over the broken remains of the Ghost shell, a sad chime echoing from within him. "Can we help him?"

"We can try." Rose said, kneeling by the broken Ghost and carefully picking up the pieces.

"So how do we stop this?" Arielle asked. "What is your plan?"

"We need to stop it at the source." Ikora said, "All the reports say the same thing; the Hive control over the Vex tech is from Omnigul and the Swarm Princes, we take them down we can stop this." She stated.

"Rose will need more than just her Golden Gun and Arc Blades." Eris said.

Arielle shook her head. "None of the Void chambers are active anymore."

"The one beyond the Reef is." Eris reminded.

Arielle looked to Rose as she carefully placed the broken Shell into a small pouch and stood again, catching Bing in her hands and holding him as he shook. "I'll do it." She said.

Arielle nodded. "I'll go with you Rose."

"You can only go as far as the Reef." Ikora reminded, "Rose has to connect with the Void on her own, just as you tamed the Storm alone."

"Orion and Vlad were there when I went to tame that storm." Arielle reminded, "They were close, not with me, but close."

"No further than the Reef." Ikora said again.

"With the mines out there it's a death trap." Arielle reminded, "How will she get back in once she's out without help?"

"The Queen assures me that her brother will help Rose to navigate her way back into the Reef. Lest he face her fury." Eris said with a tiny smile to her face. "And yours." She added. Arielle reluctantly nodded, she would still go with Rose to the Reef and she would leave her comm open until this was done with.

"Should we leave now?" Rose asked.

"We will tell Vlad and Orion you are leaving, but you would be wise to rest before you go to the Chamber. Tiredness will not serve you will in there." Eris warned.

"Yes Eris." Rose nodded.

The Queen listened carefully as Petra reported the latest updates to the Bounty list and the details of the last two days work on the Ketch to install the Turrets and train the pilots to fly the Hail Storm ships. So far it seemed they were ready to face off the ravens should they attack again, but something seemed to be bothering Petra that she didn't speak of through to the Queen it was clear it was something important.

"Petra."

"Yes my Queen?" the huntress asked.

"What troubles you?"

Petra flinched, though glanced at the Prince. "There was an unsettling find made in your privet Docking area." She said.

"Explain." The Prince said.

"I am unsure how best to word it." Petra stated. "It was… not something I or anyone would have wished to find."

"What was found?" the Queen asked, though there was a uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"A large blood stain," Petra said and looked at Uldren. "We have Variks inspect it at once and according to him, the blood is that of the Prince."

Uldren shook his head. "I have injuries nor have I been near the docks today." He said.

"I understand that," Petra nodded. "But Variks insisted it was your scent and to be sure, we ran our usual test and the results confirmed his words, this blood stain is made from Prince Uldren's blood."

"How is that possible?" Uldren asked.

The Queen held up a hand for silence and tilted her head slightly listening to the voices in her ear carefully before nodding. "It seems that the Hunter's world is starting to manifest into our own. The Vanguard is sending her here to gain her Void Bow with Arielle before they seek out the cause of this unsettling development." She explained.

"What would you have us do My Lady?" Petra asked.

"Clean this stain as best you can and then continued to monitor the Reef for further overlapping details." The Queen said, "And have a room prepared for Arielle and her friend. They shall need rest before the Hunter travels to the Void Chamber."

"Yes My Queen." Petra bowed and left the two alone, Uldren having grown silent and lost in thought.

"Uldren." She said softly and he turned to her, for the first time in a long time she saw fear in him as he knelt by her. "Speak to me brother."

"How much more of her world will come here? How much more danger will we have to face before this is over and done with?"

"The Hunter does not control this Darkness, brother, the Hive and their Wizards cause it's foul spreading, until they are dead this spread will continue." The Queen said. "Have faith brother, the Hunter will not bring harm upon the Reef nor to me."

"It is hard to keep faith when the darkness of her world spreads through our own with apparent ease." Uldren admitted.

"Spreads, but does not find anchorage." The Queen reminded. "let us see how this plays out, it seems that the Darkness the Tech Witches felt has for a time stopped beyond the planet Pluto, it seems to be waiting."

Uldren nodded, recalling those few times his sister had confided in him about a terrible force that approached the system since the death of Crota to Orion, Arielle and Vlad all those years ago now. It didn't sit well with either of them that this power seemed hell bent on getting to the system, bringing many terrible things with it like some kind of plague.

"What would you have me do, my Queen?" He asked.

"Help the Hunter and insure that the Reef is ready for anything we may face." She stated.

"Yes my Queen." He answered and she waved him off after a moment or two.

The Queen sat in her throne and thought carefully over everything she knew from the day she pulled the Vex information from its host to now, how easily she had been able to read the thoughts of a bright and safe future of the Hunter who came from a world so dark and so lost, how brutally honest the Hunter had been and how despite the loss of all she had known, she held on to that tiny slither of Hope that somehow, her world could be saved in some way.

A child's mind in an adult's body that was how the Queen chose to think of the Hunter. Her skills were impressive and had only improved from her time with Arielle and her team mates but still the Queen could see the child in the Hunter whenever she visited the Reef, the Queen needed only to look towards the Hunter and she could read her thoughts without needing to try, they were fluid and easy to define from those around her.

Thoughts of keeping the darkness at bay, thoughts of pushing the darkness of her world back and keeping it away from those she now thought of as friends, thoughts of finding the Ghosts of her world and setting them free of the darkness that had tormented them and thoughts of keeping her Ghost safe in danger.

Not a thought for her own safety or her own desires, no thoughts of what she herself might need or want. It was somewhat refreshing to the Queen to find such an open mind, someone so willing to fight in the face of seemingly impossible odds to try and make a difference in the world. It made something inside the Queen burn brighter, and she had seen the slight changes the Hunter brought out of those around her.

Arielle smiled more around her, Petra told the stories of her youth and her family without forcing the smiles or forcing the tears away around Rose and even Variks, the sly creature, could not hide the smile or the fact he stood just that bit taller, and Uldren, despite his bitterness at being bested, was slowly warming to the Hunter.

Very slowly.

"Mara?" a voice asked and the Queen felt a smile tug her lips. She said looking at Arielle as she came in to the throne room.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked.

"I am not going with Rose beyond this point." Arielle said. "Hunters must touch the Void alone, just as Warlocks tame Arc and Titans take up the Hammer."

"You wish it were different?" the Queen asked.

"I don't like sending her out alone like this. Not when there is so much that could and likely will go wrong before she even gets to the Chamber." Arielle sighed. "I don't know how she can be so calm about this."

Let it be known forever and always that Mara Sov, Queen of the Reef and Ruler of the Awoken, genuinely smiled and laughed that day.

"I recall a long time, ago a very young and strong willed Warlock came to the Reef alone and with such weak light that she barely stood out amongst the stars, requesting my help." She said and Arielle ducked her head.

"I was reckless, young and hard headed." Arielle said. "But I knew the dangers-"

"You were the first woman, besides myself to ever render Uldren speechless without physically striking him." The Queen stated with a chuckle. "You had your ball drop a Gate Lord's head, a Cabal Commander's Gatling gun and no less than five Fallen Captain's helms at Uldren's feet before he could speak and told him that if he didn't give you the information you needed you would go to the Reef archives and find it yourself."

Arielle sighed, those days had been fond memories, a time when she didn't stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of her class, days when she could afford to go off and jump in blindly as a new Guardian. "I was in a rush, I was in a bad mood and the smirk on his face was not helping my mood." She tried to defend though she knew there was no reason to do so.

"And yet you came back to the Reef. Even after the Black Garden was cleared you came to us." The Queen said, the smile still on her lips, "Have you forgotten to Code of the Reef?"

"Never." Arielle said, "We live and breathe this Reef, and it in turn protects us. Respect the Reef and it will protect you as it protects the Queen."

"And I am in no doubt that the Reef will protect the Hunter." The Queen assured, "She may not live here, but she respects the Reef, I see it in her. She will return to your team Arielle."

"Do not promise me what you can't guarantee Mara." Arielle said. "You rule the Awoken, but you do not control the Void, it will take something from her before it grants her the Bow… she will change."

The smile faded. "We all change, Arielle, you were once reckless and young, as was Uldren. I watched you grow from that brash girl into a woman I could call a sister, a woman I could leave this throne too if ever I had to." The Queen said. "No one can stay pure and innocent forever. Not even the dear Speaker is free of past demons that haunt his shadows."

"But must it be now? She is a child, a dear one at that. Must she lose that part of herself simply to connect with the Void?"

"You lost your recklessness to the Storm." The Queen reminded, "Nothing is free in this life Arielle, nothing is as simple as we wish it could be. You know that."

"Doesn't mean I like it." Arielle sighed.

The Queen nodded. "You came to ask me something." She stated.

"I know you have been watching her." Arielle nodded. "I want to watch her do this. I want to see for myself that she can do it before I drag my boys and Lindor's team into hell."

The Queen nodded. "You will tell me what you know."

"Always. My Queen." Arielle nodded.

Vakarian turned to the door as he heard something move outside the room, watching as Rose shifted in her sleep as the sound moved away, allowing her to settle back into a deeper sleep, Bing partly hidden under the sheet with her as the two rested, preparing for the hazardous journey they would face when they woke.

He knew that the Prince had some kind of device watching them, he always did. It was part of his nature to be constantly weary of anyone and everyone not born on the Reef or serving the Queen. He just hadn't found it yet, not that there was anything interesting to watch really, just Rose cleaning the space dirt from Bing's shell before settling down to sleep, a glass of water at her bed side, but beyond that, nothing in the room was out of place.

This had been Arielle's room on the Reef before she'd uncovered the plot between Uldren and the Queen, it had been left untouched since her departure, though someone had clearly kept the place clean.

He heard someone outside the door and floated over as a code was keyed in, allowing Petra to enter with a data pad. Upon seeing Vakarian but not Arielle she coked her head. "Where is she?" she asked quietly.

"She went to see the Queen." Vakarian said.

"Ah, well, in that case I shall leave this with you for when she gets back." Petra said, holding up the data pad she had with her. "A list of the latest Bounties."

"Thank you, I will make sure she gets it." Vakarian assured. Petra nodded and placed the list on the table by the door before leaving.

Rose groaned in her sleep and rolled onto her back, muttering something Vakarian couldn't understand as he settled down on the recharge dock to rest and wait for Arielle to return. He sent a quiet plea to the Traveler that all would be well when this was over, that the Darkness of Rose's world would never come to pass.

Deep in the shadows, cloaked in darkness and seething with evil, he watched.

He listened to the songs of those who had served his son and felt his blood boil with rage that a lowly light could have hurt much less killed his son. They would pay for their crime. They would pay in blood and those who had slayed his son would become his minions.

He needed only to wait for the right moment.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter eight.

Nightstalker and Omnigul.

Getting past the mines was, as the Prince had said easy, slowly moving with the many asteroids and wrecks until she was in open space had been simple, even if the mines were set at highest sensitivity.

"So, just comm you when I get the bow and you'll guild me back in?" Rose asked.

 _~ "That's the idea." ~_ The Prince said. _~ "The Void Chamber is beyond the reaches of our weapons so if you get into any trouble out there you are on your own." ~_

"Just like back home, I get it." Rose said, "At least here I know my ship isn't going to die on me."

 _~ "Be careful," ~_ Arielle said, _~ "The ship is only as good as her pilot and you'll have to leave it to get your Bow." ~_

"I know." Rose said, "I'll be back soon, hopefully with a bow." She assured.

 _~ "You'd better be." ~_ Arielle said.

"Yes mom." Rose smiled and headed towards the coordinates of the Void Chamber.

"If Arielle's mom, does that make Orion dad?" Bing asked.

"A kill stealing dad, but a good one." Rose smiled, "Now let's get this over with and hope we don't have to play chicken with the Ravens."

"Locked on to the Void chamber, we should be there soon." Bing assured.

"Good."

"Eris?" Orion asked as the former hunter stared out into the darkness beyond the wall. "What is it?"

"Omnigul is close." She said, "I sense her, the cold, vile devotion to Crota fills her screams, she is hunting for his killers and she will not stop until they are dead at her feet." She added looking at Orion. "She is not going to be an easy victory as she was before."

"I guessed as much." Orion said. "But why would she come so close to the City? With so many Guardians here she is risking a lot."

"She is challenging us." Eris said, "Waiting to see who is foolish enough to try and face her alone."

"Have you told the Vanguard?" Orion asked.

"Cayde and Ikora are aware of her, Zavala has asked to be told only if she attacks the City." Eris nodded. "But I fear she will try something worse."

"The Patrols in the Cosmodrome?" the Titan asked and Eris nodded. "She'll pick us off in small numbers, just like the Devils tried to do."

"She is clever. But she is also weary, and as long as the Princes are with her, she is protected and hidden from sight until their deaths." Eris said.

"Is that a mission?" Orion asked.

"Only if you go with the aid of others who are ready to face such horrors. The Princes are somewhere beneath the surface of the moon and whatever they seek, I fear it will herald the arrival of something far worse and far more devastating than Crota." She said.

"I understand." Orion said.

Lindor and Terrik watched as Zaragosa and Vlad sparred, moving with speeds an untrained eye would miss, knifes and fists meeting with such force dents would no doubt need bashing out later.

Lord Shaxx and Lord Saladin walked the room with even paces, acting as referees to make sure no one sparring over stepped themselves, Titans, Warlocks and Hunters filled the rings, sparring in every known team up they could fit, the Crucible arenas were full as were the Iron Banner, and from what the Reef reported, the Prison and the Trials were also struggling to find space for everyone and so, they had set up make shift sparing rings in every available space to relieve the constant flow of Guardians, while others were sent on Strikes and Raids.

No one wanted to admit they were not ready to face this new threat, and now one wanted to admit they needed to train and reshape their skills after so long away.

"Vlad, Zaragosa, time out, you've been at it all morning." Shaxx called and the two Hunters grunted before stepping away from each other.

"Next time." Zaragosa promised.

"Next time," Vlad nodded taking a long pull of an oil drink.

"Vlad." Orion called and waved his friend over.

"What we got?"

"Young team calling for help on the Moon, with Arielle on the Reef Zavala wants us to go and help them." Orion explained.

"Sounds easy." Vlad nodded. "Let's go."

Bing scanned the area as they landed, resting for a moment to get a better idea which way to go. The chamber was cold, echoing and just standing near the doorway made him feel so much smaller than he was.

"I don't like it here." he said and floated closer to Rose.

"We aren't staying longer than we need too." She assured softly catching him in her hand. "Stay in my armour, Cayde always said Void chambers were never as empty as they feel."

Bing chimed in agreement and fizzed into her armour as Rose made her way inside, taking the safety off her weapons as she used the walls for cover, following a sudden tugging in her chest.

She remembered the first time she'd seen a Void bow.

 _}~ Cayde's bow, drawn and releasing an arrow with such force it took down a Devil with ease and tethered two dozen others while Cayde continued to fire arrows, tethering more enemies and taking them down while others fired shots and shells to clear the ground below them._

 _"What was that?" she asked after the fighting came to an end. "That Bow you used…?"_

 _"That is what a Nightstalker can do with the Void." Cayde said, rubbing his face slightly. "That was a Void Bow."_

 _"Void Bow? I thought the Void was that bubble thing the Titans do." She said and Cayde chuckled ruffling her hair._

 _"It is, but remember we all use the three elements. Sol, Arc and Void. Just we each master a different one. The Titans master Sol with their hammers, the Warlocks tame the Arc in their storms, and we Hunters, we take up the Void Bow." He smiled._

 _"It looks like it does more damage than my gun." she sighed. "I still can't get a head shot."_

 _"You'll learn," Cayde smiled, "But never let the Void fool you kid, it's a deadly thing, even for us. It is neither friend nor foe, it's a consuming force, not a burning warmth like Sol or a burst of energy and adrenalin like Arc. It's like an addiction, it will change you if you treat it wrong, but it will never give you its power without a prise."_

 _"What do you mean?" she asked._

 _"You will learn when you become a Nightstalker kid, picking up the bow is easy, putting it down again," Cayde sighed, "not so much." ~{_

Steps behind her and Rose turned instantly and shoved her scout rifle into the face of-

No one.

"Rose?" Bing asked.

"Scan the area, now." Rose said.

"No need Little Light." A familiar voice said and Rose watched the same bluish light fizzle and allow the Lady Exo to step out of them.

"I am a Ghost." Bing said with an annoyed buzz.

The stranger smiled, "I am sorry I followed you here Guardian, but there is much we need to talk about before you go further."

"Good, we'll start with why you followed me and what you want. Without the riddles and 'no time to explain why I don't have time to explain' excuses." Rose said.

"I can agree to that." The Exo nodded. "Why are you here? Not at the chamber, but in this time?"

"Ikora and Eris told me the Hive messed with the Vex technology in my world and made a whole big mess of everything, somehow I got sucked here though a Vex portal and now my world is imprinting on this one, I need the Void to stop it before everything goes to hell." Rose stated, ignoring the slight tone to her own voice. "Why do you need to know that?"

"I answer to my own masters, just as you answer to the Vanguard." The Exo stated. "What do you plan to do when you have stopped the Hive?"

"Stay here and help fix the mess they made. I can't go home now. There is no home for me to go back to." Rose said. "Is that a problem?"

"I don't know the answer to that question yet." The Exo stated then paused listening to something. "Yes. Yes I understand." She said before turning to Rose again. "You came to this world weak and alone, but you have found a place here and forged a strong bond. Heed me Guardian, that bond will be tested by something so much greater than the Vex and the Hive. Even the Cabal will shudder that this threat. You will need all your courage and strength if you are to face it and win."

"You mean the Darkness Eris talks about?" Rose asked. "She said something was coming before I came here, is that what you mean?"

"I cannot say." The Exo stated. "But I can say that we will meet again and when we do, I hope it is a friends." She added, "I will keep the Ravens from attacking your ship, but beyond that, you are alone in this mission. Good luck Guardian."

"Rose." Rose said. "My name is Rose." The Stranger nodded, but said nothing as she left in the same flurry of bluish light she had arrived in.

"Are you ok?" Bing asked. "You sounded… different." He added.

Rose shook her head. "It's this place." She said shuddering, "We better hurry."

Arielle breathed deeply, letting the images flow through her mind without truly focusing on what they showed her as she followed Rose's steps, watching through the Hunter's own eyes as she searched the Chamber for any enemy as she moved deeper into it. She was somewhat aware of the Queen beside her, legs crossed as she sat in a drawn out circle surrounded by the Tech witches in their chambers, harmlessly watching the Hunter through a shared mind.

Rose was completely unaware of them within her mind to focused on getting the Bow and getting out to realize she was linked with the two older minds.

However the Queen was completely aware of the Hunter, and the Warlock that shared the link with her, watching and at the same time learning everything about the Hunter who had become so determined to stop the tragic end of her world happening again here despite the horrors she had seen in such a short time.

It amazed the Queen, but at the same time, it worried her.

If the Witches had so easily connected the three minds, no doubt the Hive Wizards would easily break the Hunter's mind as well.

She would have to do something about it.

Vlad unloaded Thorn's clip into the backs of several Acolytes as he and Orion helped the struggling team to escape the Hellmouth, covering their rear as more Hive seemed to spill from every crack and opening on the Moon.

"We need support teams at the Hellmouth! I repeat we need support teams on the Hellmouth!" Orion bellowed into the comms.

"Comms are jammed!" Vlad yelled. "Fuck! Everyone to your ships now!" he snarled out feeling Sovereign already working on trans-matting him out of the danger zone. He looked out and saw more and more Hive swarming the areas of the Moon the House of Exile had once ruled, the dull shine fading even more until it grew dark.

"We're losing the Moon." Orion hissed as Wrex dropped him into the seat of his ship. "Commander… the Moon-"

 _~ "Get back here and recover, we will do what we can about the Moon when we have more Guardians up to full strength." ~_ Zavala said, though he sounded as if he hadn't slept and the news had just given him more reason to stay awake.

"Things are getting bad Vlad." Orion said. "What do we do?"

 _~ "Let's hope Rose and Arielle get back soon, or we might just have to go collect them." ~_ Vlad said leading the ships away from the Moon. _~ "We will reclaim the Moon. And we will set the Darkness running. Somehow." ~_

The Chamber was filled with shining Amethyst, oddly glowing stones and a strange sparking purple mist, just floating around the room without real purpose or reason, the small specks of light making the place feel almost homely and safe.

It would have been beautiful, if not for the pile of skeletons and bones that littered the floor.

Bing shuddered, uncomfortable just seeing the chamber ahead of them. "I don't like it Rose."

"I know." Rose said. "But we have to go in there."

"Still don't like it." Bing said scanning the area. "Scan says it's clear." He added.

"Scan says a lot of things," Rose reminded. "Keep scanning and tell me the moment something shows up."

"Ok." Bing said as Rose shouldered her rifle and took out her knife.

Slowly she stepped into the room watching for anything that might move as she took slow steps towards the centre of the room where the mist seemed to be thickest, noticing that as she approached the mist started to gather more at the centre of the room, uncovering more bones and rusted weapons that had been left to decay with their former owners.

"Guardians?" Rose asked.

"All of them were at one point." Bing noted, "Their lights went out a long time ago, but there is lingering traces of light here."

"Nothing comes easy." Rose said, "no matter what happens, don't come out."

"But if you die-" Bing began.

"Then I die." Rose said, putting a hand over where Bing was in her chest plate. "Promise me."

"I… I promise." Bing said.

"Thank you." Rose said before looking at the now swirling ball of Void energy at the centre of the room. "Here goes everything," She muttered careful reaching out to the ball.

"Omnigul has been found," Cayde stated. "She's in the Jovian Complex, with the Princes. It doesn't look pretty."

"Then we end her before she can spread her sickening brood further." Eris said.

"We have few to spare for such an attack." Cayde said.

"We must not allow her to live." Eris stated. "As long as she lives, Crota's Will shall be done through her. We have to end her."

"Orion and Vlad can't go in there alone." Cayde stated, "And we can't just send Lindor and her boys in with them, as good as they are… this is not like the battle of Saturn." He said then paused as Eris tilted her head to listen to something else.

Then she smiled.

Rose panted heavily, shivering as a cold grip snaked up her arm and into her chest like some kind of empty embrace, tightly clutching her body for a brief moment before it settled and she was able to regain her composure.

"Rose?" Bing asked.

"I'm… I'm ok, I think. Just. Just a little cold." She admitted still a little shaken from the sudden surge in her body.

 _~ "Feels odd, doesn't it?" ~_

"Cayde?" Rose asked as she tapped her comm.

 _~ "Get a feel for it Guardian," ~_ the Vanguard said, _~ "You're gonna need to get use to the Bow. Learn to let it flow inside you and respect the power it grants a Nightstalker." ~_ He explained, _~ "Draw the string back and let the first arrow fly. Let the Void fully connect with you." ~_

"Even if it takes something from us?" Rose asked and heard Cayde chuckle.

 _~ "You're wearing the gloves of your Cayde, I bet that helps with a lot of things." ~_ Cayde said. _~ "Outside would be better." ~_

Rose nodded and made her way back the way she had come, seeing the Ravens circling around as she draw the bow string back with her left hand aiming at the largest of the ravens, watching it as it circled around and the attempted to dive at her.

She released the arrow, feeling something cold cover her hands despite the gloves and smiled as he sky lit up with the same purple mist like form she'd seen inside, sending Ravens scattering and screeching.

Uldren looked towards the chamber as a bright purple light washed over the area, scattering the flocks of Ravens he had seen on his radar, watching them start to drop in numbers swiftly.

The Hunter, it seems had been successful in gaining her bow.

Arielle was smiling.

The Queen didn't need to see her to know that as they left the shared mind. "Seems we underestimated the Hunter." She said.

"Seems?" Arielle asked.

"I had thought she would be too scared to go in alone, too fearful of losing something about herself to the Void to use it. I was wrong." The Queen stated.

"Am I hearing things or did the Queen of the Reef just say she had been wrong?" Arielle asked.

"I will not repeat myself." The Queen said, "But now that she is a Nightstalker, Eris reports that Omnigul has been found and your Titan and Hunter have been sent to try and keep her from spreading her brood. I am sure you know what to do with that information." She added and with that, the Queen stood and headed back to her throne room.

Arielle smiled, "A Queen needs not repeat herself." She said, tapping her comm link. "Rose, Omnigul's been found. Want to test that new bow of yours on her?"

 _~ "For what she did to Cayde and Ikora in my world. Hell yes." ~_ Rose answered and Arielle heard her ship in the back ground. _~ "Just need to get back inside the Reef and we can leave." ~_

"Uldren." Arielle said.

 _~ "I will get her back inside." ~_ Uldren said.

Vlad growled as he and Orion rested, backs against a rock as they reloaded their weapons both heavily panting while struggling to keep their guards up against the onslaught of thrall and Acolytes the Swarm Princes brought with them, blocking the way into the Hive Seeder that held Omnigul.

"This is harder than I remember." Orion huffed.

"No shit." Vlad growled. "We need to get in there before we lose this place as well as the Moon."

"I hear that." Orion said, "But how do we get in there if we can't even beat this small fry?"

"I say we do this with our own swords." Vlad said, reaching back to his sword. "Ready?"

"Meet you at the Princes." Orion nodded drawing out the Raze Lighter from his back and Vlad drew the Dark Drinker and the two charged, cutting down the Hive with new found ease.

"Hope Arielle doesn't mind this." Vlad called, spinning with his blade to cut down Thrall.

"She can shout at me later." Orion assured. "Right now, we need to clear this area." He added slicing an Acolyte in half.

Arielle was waiting when Rose got into the Reef air space, just barely getting back inside without setting a mine off even with Uldren's help, and now they were heading into jump space to get back to earth in time to help Vlad and Orion fight.

The Queen watched them go and then turned to her brother. "I trust the plan is in place?" she said.

"Yes my Queen." He said, kneeling beside her.

"Then we are ready for the worse should it come." She said.

"Yes my Queen." He said though she saw he was not happy with the plan she spoke of, she saw it behind his eyes, fear, uncertainty and worry for her.

"Speak your mind brother." She permitted, knowing he would only brood over his thoughts if he kept them bottled up.

"Must you do this? Must we give so much on a whim? We are not even sure he will continue his attack now. Must it still be as we planned? Can you not- Can we not speak to the Vanguard?" He said as if the very idea of asking for help from them left a foul taste in his mouth. "Arielle would never agree to this if she knew."

"We are the only ones who can stop this darkness before it reaches them." the Queen stated, "And I will not bow or run from this vile creature."

"We are not bowing to him if we seek aid." Uldren said though he didn't like the suggestion himself. "Losing you will destroy the Reef. And it will destroy me."

"Only you?" the Queen asked.

Uldren shook his head. "You are as the Hunter said, the Traveler to us, if we lose you…" Uldren refused to finish that sentence, he had seen the fate of the Hunter's Queen and he would not wish to see it become a reality for his own Queen. "Please, rethink this plan."

"And do what?" The Queen asked. "Send my people to fight without me? Allow you to go in my stead?"

"If the choice has to be made, my life is less than yours, Queens rule this Reef, their brothers serve them and I will gladly fall if it means you live." He said.

"And that is my weakness." It was so soft, Uldren knew no one else had heard it. "If you disappear, I have no one and nothing. All I have done, all I have worked for, is gone if I lose the one soul that is linked to my own by blood and birth."

"Then as my sister," he said and lightly took her hand in his. "Please, rethink this plan. I cannot lose you, the Reef cannot lose you." He pleaded, lightly squeezing her hand in his.

She gave the softest of sighs, "Alright. I will think on what has been shown to us and all that has happened since. But for now the plan remains." She said.

"As you wish." He said, still holding her hand.

"Incoming transmission from Orion and Wrex." Vakarian said. "They're struggling." He added as he linked the transmission to Arielle's comm-link.

"What's happening?"

 _~ "These fuckers don't die." ~_ Orion snarled, _~ "if you are on the way, I suggest dropping in here with weapons hot babe, because these fuckers are tougher than the last ones." ~_ He added.

"Understood." Arielle said, "Rose, make sure you're weapons are ready."

 _~ "Got it." ~_ Rose assured. _~ "How bad is it down there?" ~_

"The boys are struggling." Arielle said as they left the jump space. "Stay close to me and we'll drop in right on top of them."

 _~ "As long as the boys don't shoot us on the way down." ~_ Rose said as their ships swooped down over earth.

"If they do I'll pop a grenade down their backs for you." Arielle promised as they reached old Russia. "Heads up boys here we come."

 _~ "Watch your backs, Fallen Devils still lingering outside the Seeder." ~_ Vlad called out.

"They won't be there for long." Arielle smiled as lightning danced down her arms. "Dropping in three. Two.-"

 _~ "Dive Bomb!" ~_ Bing cheered as they transmitted out of their ships, Rose unloading a clip from her scout rifle as they fell through the air, taking down Thrall and Acolytes as they tried to fire on them coming down.

"Orion?!"

"Here!" the Titan bellowed out as he cut down another thrall, Vlad a few feet ahead of him, struggling to hold off Banuk, the Ur Prince with his Dark Drinker, struggling against the large Hive Knight's heavier weight.

"Little help!"

"Move Vlad!" Arielle yelled as lightning sprang from her arms and carried her over the gathered swarm, cutting down their numbers with ease as she charged the Prince and focused the storm in her arms into the Prince's chest and face. The Prince staggered backwards, but did not appear to be weakening as she had hoped.

"Shit." The warlock hissed and barely managed to jump back as the prince brought down his sword where she had been. "Why aren't you dead?!"

"Hey Ugly!" Rose yelled from above and the Prince turned his gaze up only to have a rocket smashed into his face while Rose flew backwards as the prince fell to the ground, roaring in what Arielle could only guess was Hive speak for some kind of cursing.

"He's still not dead!" Orion yelled as Vlad caught Rose before she could hit the ground.

"What the fuck does it take to kill this guy!?" Arielle yelled as she unloaded another clip worth of bullets into the Prince's face and the Thrall that suddenly swarmed from further inside the complex.

"Lots of bullets. Can you get his attention for me Vlad?" Rose asked dropping to a knee and levelling her sniper rifle with the Swarm Prince's head.

"Getting attention." Vlad said and threw his knife at the Prince's head. "Hey Fuck-face! Over here!"

The prince snarled and turned, giving Rose a perfect shot at his forehead. "Smile for the birdie!" she said and squeezed the trigger twice before swiftly reloading and aiming again as the Prince dropped to one knee, stabbing the ground with his sword as he attempted to stand again only to fall as Vlad, Rose, Arielle and Orion unloaded their last few bullets into him.

The air suddenly echoed with ear splitting bellows, loud enough to make Rose cover her ears even though her helmet. "I think we pissed them off!"

"Get your sword Arielle! These three mean business!"

"Stay back Rose." Vlad said, "If Eris was right, you are the one they'll go for first."

"Because I slough Crota?" Rose asked and Vlad nodded. "I'm not running away."

"I didn't ask you to." Vlad smiled. "Just don't let them get close to you."

"That's easy," Rose smiled, "Knights can't climb." She reminded and then scrambled up the rocks and parts of the Seeder, taking a place on one of the spikes and levelled her sniper rifle again.

Dakoor the Yul Prince charged Orion, Garrok the Xol Prince charged Vlad and Merok the Eir Prince charged Arielle, all the while Rose took out Acolytes, Thrall and smaller Knights to keep her team from getting overwhelmed, each shot she fired caught the attention of others and she knew if she moved too much their shots would reach her so she was swift and never stayed out of cover longer than she needed to be.

 _'Aim. Fire. Duck. Aim. Fire. Duck.'_ That was the pattern Ace and J-Cey had taught her and she was going to make them proud by using it to help others.

Arielle swung her blade with all her might, slicing deep into Merok's chest as a bullet shot past her back, taking down what had likely been a very unlucky Thrall. "Nice shot Rose!"

 _'Breath deep and calm, never let yourself get caught up in shooting that you forget your own pace.'_ That was Cayde's advice and he'd never been wrong before.

Orion blocked Dakoor's blade with his own, growling as he forced the Prince to stagger backwards and tossed a grenade towards the entrance of the Seeder to clear a wave of Thrall that were charging out. "Fuckers!"

 _'If you know you aren't strong enough to face things head on, snip them to death, distance is the best shield.'_ That was one of Ikora's lessons. All of those little things she'd heard and been told came back, those tips and titbits of information that at the time had meant nothing now made perfect sense.

"Fuck-Arhg!"

"Vlad?!"

Rose levelled her scope at the fight between Garrok and Vlad at Arielle's shout and froze.

Garrok's huge blade had cut a jagged and ugly gash into Vlad's shoulder and chest, leaving his body sparking and twitching as oil and wires littered the ground. The Dark Drinker lay in two broken pieces a few inches away and in Garrok's hand-

Garrok had no time to respond only stagger as the shots forced his hand to release its crushing grip on the Ghost he had caught allowing it to flee upwards and to the side of the burning Light above them.

He bellowed a challenge and turned to that light, the same that had burned so bright when the King's son died and snarled at it.

"He's challenging you." Sovereign panted, his dented shell shaking as Rose caught him in her hand. "What will you do?"

"What Hunters are always told not to do." Rose said, "Get inside with Bing and stay there."

"But Rose-"

"Do it!" Rose snapped, "If I die my armour won't release you automatically unless Bing's scanner shows clear area for at least ten minutes."

"Whatever you're gonna do, do it now!" Orion yelled as Garrok took a step towards where Arielle and Merok were fighting.

Sovereign fizzed into Rose's armour and then yelped as Rose jumped from her place and drew out her knife, landing on Garrok's back and drove her knife into the back of his neck, where the hide was softest. The Prince roared in agony and tried to reach back and remove her, unable to reach as Rose planted her feet firmly against his back and one arm around his neck, forcing him to bend backwards and stagger away from Arielle's fight before Rose released him and back flipped further away, taking out her scout rifle again and unloaded the clip into his back.

"Come on!" Rose snarled.

"What's gotten into her!?" Orion yelled punching Dakoor in the jaw as the Prince charged him, twisting and trusting the Raze-Lighter into the Prince's face jumping back.

"Confidence." Arielle smiled proudly as she thrust the Bolt Caster into Merok's chest and twisted it violently as she jumped back. "Get him Rose!"

Rose jumped at Garrok again, using knife to cut into the Prince's chest and face before she stuck a Vortex grenade to his chest. "Good bye." She hissed and jumped back as the Prince staggered back and tried to remove the grenade only for it to go off and take his head off.

"Oh yuck!" Orion groaned as he and Arielle were sprayed with the now dead Prince's 'blood'. "Gross."

"Vlad!" Sovereign called fizzing from Rose's armour and hovered over the fallen body of his Guardian. "Vladimir-66! You damn fool, wake up so I can yell at you for being an idiot!" he buzzed angrily scanning and rescanning the fallen Exo's body trying to realign and reconnect the broken body.

"Can you revive him?" Arielle asked.

"Not alone, he used up so much Light fighting before you arrived he barely had enough to keep the sword as long as he did." Sovereign admitted.

"I can help." Bing said as he came out of Rose's armour, already scanning and fixing the broken wires inside Vlad with Sovereign's guidance as Vakarian and Wrex fizzled into life and began to do the same. Slowly, the Exo's body began to reform, snapping and clicking back into its natural form before Sovereign floated higher and gave a burst of bright light, forcing it down into the Exo's body with a warm surge of air.

"Argh!" Vlad gasped, lunging up from the ground with an all mighty scream before clutching his chest and panting heavily. "Ah! Ohhhh-oh-ow… ow-ow-ow-ow. Oh Fuck that hurt!" He gasped shaking and groaning as he tried to stand up.

"You were almost cut in two you Buffoon! Don't you ever do something so stupid and reckless again or so help me I will never revive you!" Sovereign yelled practically slamming his shell into Vlad's head. "Idiot! Fool! Total and Utter Stupid pile of Spare parts!"

"Ow, you're meant to be nice to me! I just died." Vlad said catching the ghost in his hands. "You ok?"

"No! He tried to crush me! He almost did! If Rose hadn't shot his hand I'd be a pile of parts with you! So don't you ever die like that again!" Sovereign buzzed.

"I'll try not to. Oh that hurts." The Exo groaned stumbling back to his feet before looking at the remains of his sword. "Shaxx is gonna kill me."

"He'll kill all of us." Arielle said showing Vlad the chipped and broken Bold Caster while Orion held out the badly bent Raze Lighter.

"Now what?" Vlad asked.

"We go in there and stop that bitch screaming." Rose said looking into the Seeder as screams echoed from within. "Then we go home, have a hot meal and go to bed."

Arielle nodded and together the four headed inside, finding the walls and ceiling covered in the same Hive Barnacles that usually populated the Moon had started to grow in the complex as well, covering most of the door and walls so thickly there would be no way to open them without fully removing the Hive infestation.

"Why do they cover things with these barnacles?" Bing asked, "And why do they breath?"

"We don't know, and the breathing thing Eris says is to spread negative feelings and feed the Darkness. Removing it is best done by those who know more about the Hive, like the Hidden or Eris herself, since not getting rid of all of it can lead to hug problems later on."

"But we will do it. It'll just take a long time." Orion said as they reached a locked door, partly covered by the Hive's mess. "Wrex."

"Opening door, got it." Wrex said as he hovered closer to the lock pad and began to hack and charge the door until it slowly rattled up half way before stopping. "Best I can do," he stated returning to Orion's armour as Orion crouched and scanned through the door.

"Clear." He said and the four crawled under the door, thankful that their helmets filtered the air for them, as the room was filled with the same thick black fog that the barnacles produced on the moon.

"Yuck." Vakarian said as the fog seemed to only get thicker as they moved further inside. "I'd taken a Fallen Lair over this mess."

"I know what you mean, even House Exile has better taste in decoration to this." Arielle said looking around.

"Maybe if ever we find one who talks as good as Variks we can ask them about Fallen décor." Orion said with a chuckle.

"We are not redecorating the apartment in Fallen Banners." Arielle said.

"Never said it was for the apartment." Orion said. "I still need to get Zaragoza back for the time he dyed my hair pink."

Vlad chuckled though it didn't last as he rubbed where he had been sliced. "Might need to go see the docs when we get back," he said.

"Dampeners not working?" Arielle asked.

"Not sure, just don't make me laugh anytime soon." He said.

"So no jokes to lighten the mood before we fight the screaming bitch and her brood of Crota loving brats." Orion stated with a small smile as Vlad playfully punched his helm.

"As much as I enjoy them, we'll have to skip them today." Vlad stated.

"So how do you want to do this? Two of us clear out the Brood while the other two go for Omnigul? Or shall we all just focus fire on her?" Orion asked looking at Arielle.

"I say we go step by step and take out time, aim for the weak spots like when we first fought the Hive. No telling how many of Crota's generals she has in there with her and its not safe to self-revive while they are around." Arielle said.

"So we play this by the Hunter book?" Vlad asked.

"No." Arielle said and looked at Rose. "We play by Rose's book."

Rose nodded. "Last reports from my world on the Hive said they only had one weak spot, aim for the third eye on the Knights and Acolytes, aim for the heads of Thrall and if you face a Wizard, get up close, and knife them in the back of the neck, fast and hard. Never let an Ogre get close to you. If you have to run, you run and you don't stop until you are either higher than it can reach or you are far enough away to turn and round and rocket the fucker in the eye."

"Good plan." Orion said. "How do we deal with the screaming bitch?"

Rose shook her head. "No one ever faced Omnigul and lived to tell it." She said.

 _~ "Aim for her neck and face," ~_ Eris said over the comms. _~ "She cannot call her brood if she cannot scream."~_

Bing shuddered a little inside Rose's chest plate. "Is it bad that I am scared of her now?" he asked.

 _~ "No." ~_ Vakarian assured. _~ "She still scares me sometimes and I know she's got a mean streak in her." ~_ He admitted.

"Ready to move?" Vlad asked.

"Stay close to each other and don't trust your scanners, use your eyes, ears heck use your noses if you have too, every Hive you see means there are at least ten you don't." Rose said.

"Got it." Orion nodded and slowly the four moved forwards watching the scans from their Ghosts and also scanning with their own eyes.

Rose led them further in, listening for everything and anything that wasn't them, the scrap of Thrall teeth on bone, the heavy stomp of Knights marching, the soft hiss of Acolytes resting a moment before continuing, the almost gentle rustle of Wizard robes as they moved. She'd learnt those sounds by heart those few terrible nights on the Moon with J-Cey and Ace when they found her. She knew what each one meant and how quickly one Knight could become ten, how fast Thrall could overwhelm the Sunbreakers and Stormcallers.

She had watched them feast on the bodies of her fellow Guardians from the recovered footage and she knew it would be no different if they died here. Rose stopped and laid down on her stomach as something moved ahead of them and heard Arielle back up into the wall as Orion knelt into his own cover and Vlad laid beside her.

Perfectly still.

Not a single sound from any of them.

Heavy, lumbering steps echoed by countless more came closer and closer until at last, two large Ogres came into view, following a trio of Wizards across the room, surrounded by Knights, Acolytes and Thrall. Rose clenched her fists when she realized each Knight and Wizard carried necklace or belt like item, holding countless Broken and dead Ghost Shells.

She would free them.

Then she saw them, green headed, glowing Thrall, trailing behind the group of Hive, their apparent leader stopped suddenly and turned, hissing and spitting as if it knew something were wrong as it stepped towards the four. An ear splitting scream stopped it and it quickly rushed off, chased by its brethren as Omnigul summoned them.

Once the patrol had moved on, Rose slowly moved to her knees and caught Arielle's gaze, picking up a hand full of Hive barnacles and placed them on her armour. Arielle nodded and did the same, helping Orion place some on himself while Rose helped Vlad.

"She knows we are coming." Arielle said, "This will at least get us closer." She explained.

"Hopefully." Rose nodded as they continued in.

"Her Uncertainty."

"What?" Zavala asked.

"The Void took Rose's uncertainty away." Cayde stated again as they watched the fight and all that had happened. "She's not scared to jump in anymore."

Eris smiled from her place, watching through the shadows as the four moved deeper into the Seeder, closer to Omnigul and clutched her orb tighter. "Go carefully into this darkness Guardians, Omnigul expects you." She warned softly. "She is wicked and desperate. Keep your Light safe."

 _~ "She won't live beyond today." ~_ Arielle assured. _~ "We will make sure of that." ~_

Eris nodded, still gently petting the orb in her hands as they watched the team continue their mission, reloading their weapons before they came upon any unwanted encounter before they found Omnigul.

Lindor paused her work and wiped her forehead on her arm before returning to the apparent mess of wires and plugs that needed to be attached so that the new torrent on the Reef worked.

"How much longer?" the Prince asked from somewhere below her.

"Five minutes at most. These connections have to be right or you might as well be firing a very expensive nerf gun." Lindor said.

"A what?" Petra asked.

"It's a toy gun children play with in Last City." Zaragosa explained. "They are made to look like the Guns we Guardians use, from the Hand Cannons to the Sniper Rifles, but instead of life ammo they fire little foam darts and disks that don't hurt unless they go in the eye."

"Why are they called Nerf Guns?" Petra asked.

"Because foam darts on a real battle field would do nothing and 'Nerf' is a term used to describe a weapon that has been altered to the point it is seen as useless or less than it once was." Lindor said, carefully attaching the last few wires and plugs. "It happens in the Crucible. Lord Shaxx had to personally place a special chip inside some weapons just to stop them becoming common place weapons in his fights so Guardians didn't let the winning streak go to their heads."

"Sounds logical." Petra said as a soft hum filled the room. "Done?"

"Done." Lindor smiled and slipped out from under the newly installed gun. "Just needs a test firing." She added and Petra's face lit up like a child at Christmas as Uldren made to speak only to be cut off as the comm link buzzed.

 _~ "Petra." ~_

The smile faded and instantly Petra answered her comm-link. "Yes Your Grace?"

 _~ "Report to me at once." ~_

"Yes My Queen." Petra answered and hen shut the comm off and all but raced off.

Lindor looked at Uldren and waved at the pilot seat. "It still needs testing." She said.

He watched from the darkest shadows, watching the burning light that his son's loyal had marked his killer.

Watching it move against his forces like the tip of a small spear, doing little damage to his true plan, but damage no matter how small might become a large problem if left unchecked.

Such a small light to cause such trouble, smallest he had seen in his years so far, smaller than those around it but somehow, it had burned brightest when Crota fell, bright as the Traveler itself for just a few moments according to those who had witnessed it.

He would watch and see if this Light could defeat Crota's mate. If not then revenge would be the reward of Omnigul for defeating this pest, but if somehow this light defeated Omnigul, doubtful but not impossible, he would insure that where his son and his mate failed.

He would succeed.

And the Light would suffer a long, slow path to its death.

Of that he would see to himself.

Rose stopped as they reached a large open area filled with the corpses of dead Fallen and some Hive.

"Looks like Exile isn't the only desperate House." Orion said looking at the Red banners that were littered around. "Devils."

"And Kings." Vlad said, indicating to a yellow cloth partly hidden in amongst the dead.

"Omnigul must have killed them to claim more space for her brood, Wizards are known to kill each other and take over their broods to gain more of their own space." Rose said.

"Sh." Arielle hissed sharply as the air suddenly grew cold and heavy. "She's waiting for us."

"Let's not keep her." Orion said.

"Think you can hit her with your arrows?" Vlad asked Rose.

"I can try." Rose nodded. "But if we have to shoot down her brood first they'll swarm us before we can hit Omnigul and she'll take off."

 _~ "Then allow me to help you." ~_ Eris said over the comms, _~ "Obey my words as they come and you will defeat her." ~_

Rose smiled. "Thank you Eris."

"Leave the Brood to us." Arielle smiled, her arms cackling lightly. "You two focus that bitch. Those Ogres will be the biggest issue but nothing stands against a storm." She added.

"Nothing stands against a well-aimed hammer either." Orion smiled.

"One request." Rose said, "try not to damage the Ghosts they are wearing, they have been through enough."

Arielle nodded in understanding before turning to Orion who also nodded.

"Ready?" Vlad asked, as the Void bow formed in his hand.

"Ready." Rose nodded, readying her rifle.

The chamber soon echoed with Guardian battle cries and the cut off screams of Omnigul and her brood as Orion and Arielle tag teamed the swarming Hive Orion first taking down the Knights and Ogres with his hammers before Arielle unleashed the fury of the storm on the Thrall and Acolytes while Orion unloaded countless bullets into the Wizards around them.

Omnigul attempted to scream as she saw her brood fall only to feel a painful burning in her chest as a Void arrow shattered her shield and forced her to slow as bullets ripped into her arms, shoulders and part of her head crown.

Rose reloaded her rifle and continued to fire, standing from her cover as the Ogres fell and ripped a smoke grenade from her belt. "Smoke Grenade!" she warned as Arielle jumped up to focus the last of her Storm into the Wizard while Vlad helped Orion clear out the lingering Thrall with Thorn as Orion continued to toss his Hammers towards Omnigul.

Omnigul snarled and hovered higher, beyond the reach of the attacks before screaming and unleashing a barrage of Arc orbs, at her attackers, before her eyes fell on the female Hunter and charged her with a bellowing screech.

 _~ "Duck left and fire on her as you move. Keep your knife to hand and do not allow her to touch you." ~_

Rose braced herself and at the last second ducked out of Omnigul's reach, squeezing the trigger of her scout rifle at close range to the Wizard's chest before snatching her knife and driving it into Omnigul's face, trying to cut something from the Wizard's neck second before Omnigul tried to catch her in poison as she regained her shield.

 _~ "Don't allow her to bait you. Let her attack you first she is waiting for you to make an opening for her." ~_

"I will not."

"Arielle switch with me! Her shield's back up and I have no more arrows." Vlad called.

Arielle saw what Rose had tried to cut free and growled in anger, quickly snatching up a few small orbs that Orion had created with his Sol Hammers to regain more of her own Super energy as she smashed two Thralls' heads together with enough force to shatter their skulls on impact.

"Feels like I'm wasting bullets here." Orion said.

"Use your fists. Save the bullets for the Bitch." Vlad said driving his foot hard into an Acolyte's stomach area before snapping its neck with a swift twist in his hands as Rose danced silently around Omnigul's grip and attacks taking the few chances she got to fire on the shield that once again protected Omnigul from real harm.

Orion smiled and cracked his knuckles as two large Knights arrived from the shadows. "Play time."

Omnigul hissed and snarled as her attempts to attack the Hunter resulted in little more than wasted energy as the wretched light ducked and weaved easily as if she had done so before, as if she had seen her attacks before, which was impossible, no one lived beyond that day.

It was as if this Hunter was somehow in her mind.

 _~ "She is catching on to my tricks." ~_ Eris warned. _~ "End it now." ~_

"Gladly." Rose said taking out her knife again.

Arielle smiled focusing her storm down her arms, "You don't live beyond today Omnigul." She stated unleashing her lightning into the Wizard's back, forcing the shield to drop as Rose took hold of her Void Bow and released two arrows into the Wizard's chest.

Omnigul screamed as she dropped from the air rapidly, clawing the air as she tried to regain height and summon her brood, only to catch sight of their fallen bodies burning away. She looked back at the Hunter appeared in her vision.

Rose levelled the last arrow with Omnigul's face. "This is for my world." She stated and released the arrow at close range, the momentum carrying Omnigul backwards into the ground with a powerful thud.

Vlad covered his ears though his helmet as Omnigul screamed through her body burning away, the hollow crown falling to the ground as the screams echoed on while Rose knelt and picked up something that had fallen at her feet.

 _~ "Return to the Tower Guardians. You have done us all a great service." ~_ Eris said though there was something else in her tone, relief almost. _~ "For now, the shadows are silent." ~_

"Yes Eris."

 _"You… wish me to stay here?" Petra asked in uncertainty._

 _"That is what the Queen desires." The Queen stated._

 _Petra was silent, but the Queen needed no words to know what Petra was thinking. She feared she had done something to lose what favour the Queen had granted her again since the Wolves betrayed her, feared that she had over stepped herself with something._

 _"You have done no wrong, Petra." She assured, "But there is simply no place for you on the ships this time, I will need you here and so here you shall stay."_

Petra couldn't have looked more defeated than she had in that moment and for the second time in her life, the Queen knew she had hurt someone with her words, but she had to make sure someone was still here she could trust if the worse should happen. She had to make sure that her Reef was safe and the best way to do that was to leave those she trusted with her life here to protect it in her stead if the plan failed or did not go as she hoped.

Uldren had stood at her side, though he was stiff and tense as he stood there. Worried by her refusal to find a different plan despite her promise she would. But in truth, she'd had no time to think of a new plan, within the last hour, Uldren's Crows had returned to him in a panic, each rushing to report the same thing to the point Uldren had been forced to raise his voice to them and order silence.

Their words had put a stop to those few hopeful thoughts the Queen had hoped to use as her Plan B.

He was coming.

And he was angry.

He would bring his evil, foul shadows to the Reef and wipe it out.

The Queen would not see that happen and had ordered the Plan into action, immediately.

"You will fly separate from me. Lead the Ships in their attack while I summon the Harbingers with the Witches." She told him as they walked towards the docks.

"Yes My Queen." He said.

"Fly safe and swift. And do not fail." She stated and he nodded.

Eris knew she was coming, she always knew when someone was coming to her room.

"Enter." Eris said quietly and the door to her room opened to allow Rose to step inside.

"I don't know if it will help, but nothing I have tried calms him." The Hunter said holding something in her hands. "He didn't leave last night with the others."

The orb in Eris's hands seemed to vibrate softly and the shell in Rose's began to shake, rattling softly.

"That Shell is not the one I lost." Eris said. "And yet he recognizes me."

"Watson recognized Cayde when he woke up." Rose reminded softly. "I thought he might calm down if he was with you, but I didn't want to open old scars if I was wrong."

Eris looked at her and then at the Ghosts hovering just behind her shoulder, some would call it fear, but Bing held no fear of her, she knew that without the Ghost's affirmation, no this little one stayed behind Rose out of respect for the Ghost who once hovered by Eris's own shoulder.

"What do you know of Ghosts?" Eris asked softly as Bing entered as if he had been permitted to do so.

"Only what Ikora told me where I am from." Rose admitted as Bing balanced on her shoulder. "In its dying breath, the Traveler gave birth to the Ghosts, the Ghosts travelled the System, search for those who could use the Light to protect the last of Humanity. When a Ghost finds a Guardians they are bound to that Guardians until they both lose all their light, be it to battle or old age and if a Ghost dies before the Guardian, a Guardians will start to age and eventually die." She recalled as Bing lightly bumped against her cheek. "Some Ghosts get so attached to their Guardians that sometimes they can't leave, even when their Guardians dies, so they become Shells, lingering in places their Guardians shared memories with them until someone finds them and uses their light to coax the Ghost back to the Traveler."

Eris smiled and slowly extended a hand letting Rose place the familiar shell in her palm and gently she brought the shell closer to her orb, feeling them resonate in harmony. "I lost much faith in the Traveler when we went down into the Hive. I cursed it for not allowing me the strength to protect my Ghost when he had done so much to keep me alive." She said, "When I found my way out, when I finally found the Light again, I was cold, harsh and sharp nothing like the Guardians Soul had revived. I had lost so much of myself to the Hive I thought…"

A hand to her shoulder and Eris looked to Rose. "No Guardian loses too much of themselves to forever lose the bond with their Ghost." She said. "Ace told me that the Eris of my world would utter a prayer for the Ghosts who passed her. She knew the names of every Ghost and who they belonged too and only she could tell you how old a Ghost was compared to their Guardian."

"A Prayer?" Eris asked, though she had a funny feeling she knew what that prayer was.

 _"Oh Traveler who hangs above us. Hallowed be thy name; Give us this day our faith. And forgive us out trespasses lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil. For thine is The Father and Keeper. For ever and ever. Amen."_ Bing recited as if he had heard it a thousand times before. "Soul taught it to me, when I was resting between trying to find Rose."

Eris smiled looking at her orb, "You hear him. Even like this?" she asked.

Bing bounced in a nod. "He talks to all the Ghosts, but his voice is soft like a whisper so can only be heard by those who listen closely."

Rose smiled and then looked down to the shell, "He's stopped shaking."

"Then it is time for him to return to the Traveler." Eris said though she didn't rush to release the shell in her hand. "I doubt I can send him off, not like this."

"It would be wrong of me to deny you the right to see him go." Rose said, lightly placing her hands around Soul's shell and Eris felt warmth in that touch, warmth from a light that held no judgement of her or those who had been touched by the darkness.

"Thank you. For granting me this." The corrupted Hunter said as she felt the Shell slowly fade away, the light that had sustained it flickering up through Rose's hand.

"As a Warlock once told me, 'if one Awoken cannot help another, we are lost as a people.'" Rose smiled. "Until next time Eris. Vlad and I are heading to Mars for a patrol."

"Next time, Rose." Eris smiled softly as Rose left her room.

They were doing well. He would admit to that much.

The fire fight was going in their favour, Hive ships were taken down with a few shots and blast while the smaller ships were quickly dropping and struggling to fight off their sudden attack.

But still his felt uneasy and worried even as he lead another wave of attacks this time on the largest threat, passing it while peppering the surface with their shots.

 _~ "Prince Uldren there is no damage!" ~_ One of the pilots yelled.

 _~ "What the fuck does it take to destroy this thing?!" ~_ Another cursed.

He glanced back as he flew his ship, hoping that his worries would prove unfounded as the shots from his ship did nothing to the massive Dreadnaught that travelled towards the Reef through Saturn's Rings.

 _"You are sure?"_

 _"I am."_ She answered him. _"Fly my brother. Survive this and protect the Reef."_

 _"Yes Sister."_

 _~ "Watch your wings! The Queen just unleashed the Harbingers!" ~_

 _~ "Scatter! Everyone out of the way!" ~_

He watched, praying with all his heart that the seven burning Harbingers that flew from the Queen's Ketch would do the damage they were renowned for as they dragged asteroids and debris towards the Dreadnought.

He saw them hit, saw the countless explosions of impact and for a moment he dared to hope they had worked.

But they'd done nothing.

Not even a scratch against the massive ship's outer shell and Uldren felt dread fill his chest as the Dreadnaught fired on them cutting through their ships and its own with ease.

"The Awoken have played their part. This was all… part of the plan."

The Queen closed her eyes and allowed the burning to echo around her, feeling her mentors and advisors summon their strength to protect her from whatever harm they could before her world became cold and empty.

 _"My Queen?! Sister please answer me!"_ Uldren pleaded over their bond as siblings, searching and clinging to her mentally. _"Mara!"_

 _"Go. Get away from here."_ She ordered however weakly.

 _"I can't leave you here!"_ he stated. _"I will find you, I will fix my ship and find you! I'll bring you home! I swear it!"_

 _"You can't save me in time to stop this Uldren. Go back to the Reef and protect our home. Everything else is up to My Hidden Friend."_

 _"Mara-"_

 _"Go brother… I will hold out as long as I can."_ She promised and then something cut into the link, cold, harsh and so powerful Uldren almost lost the grip of his sister's mind as she screamed in agony.

 _"MARA!"_

"Whoa, hold the phone!" Cayde yelled from his place, tapping his comm-link listening to the harsh, barked and frantic language on the other end.

"Cabal." Zavala said listening carefully.

"It's all over my channels." Cayde said.

"And mine." Ikora said.

"It's coming from Phobos." Zavala said, "Who is in that area?"

"Rose and Vlad are heading that way to run a patrol on Mars." Cayde said checking his rota. "They'll still be in orbit."

"Good." Zavala said and opened his comm-link. "Guardians."

"Understood commander," Vlad said as he and Rose dropped from their ships on Phobos.

"Nice views." Rose said glancing around before they headed down the windy and narrow path towards where they could see the Cabal base. "If you discount the base and all.

"Hold up." Vlad said and then aimed at a ship that flew up past them, casting them in bright light before rapidly flying off.

"They're leaving?" Rose asked.

"They're getting wiped out." Vlad corrected as a Cabal dragged itself towards them before dying. "Not good." He said.

Seconds later an explosion echoed around them and more Cabal ships took off from Phobos as if in retreat. "Zavala the Cabal are retreating from Phobos with extreme prejudice, they are getting torn up down here." Sovereign said into the comms, "I've never seen them retreat like this. Ever."

 _~ "What regiment?" ~_

"Skyburners. And there are no other Guardians here." Vlad said. "Lots of dead and dying Cabal though."

"Wonder what's putting them down." Rose said looking around.

 _~ "Something has drawn us here, I can feel it." ~_ Eris said over the comms.

"Let's head inside and find out what is going on." Vlad suggested as their Ghosts took refuge inside their armours.

They searched slowly, scanning everything they could and watching for any movement that wasn't a dying Cabal.

"What the fuck?" Vlad asked and Rose looked at a smattering of something on the walls and floor. "You know what this is?" he asked.

"No idea." Rose said shaking her head. "Nothing like this where I was, whoa!" she yelped as something bright and round shot past between them with enough speed to knock her over.

 _~ "What the hell was that?" ~_

"Not a fucking clue but it was fast!" Vlad said aiming where the orb had come from and then where it had gone. "You ok?"

"Yea, just startled me." Rose said getting back to her feet. "Where'd it go?"

 _~ "Fingertips on the surface of my mind." ~_

"Eris?" Rose asked, "What's wrong?" she added as they moved further into the base.

 _~ "Something is whispering in my mind. Something sharp and cold… like ice." ~_ She explained as they followed the trail of strange goo-like substance that seemed to ooze around the base.

"What are they saying?" Vlad asked before stopping as a Cabal Centurion was sucked up into the orb they had been following. "What the!?"

"Did you see that?" Rose asked Zavala.

 _~ "I saw it, but I have no idea what it was." ~_ The commander stated.

"Let me out." Bing said, "I can hack that console and find out what the Cabal know." He added as Rose released him from her armour and he set about hacking. "Let's see. Says here they send out troops to investigate anomalies across the base, one of them reported back and then within hours reports came in about loses."

 _~ "Losses?" ~_ Zavala asked.

"Sand Eaters report losing 58% of their troops, the Blind Legion losing 35% and the Dust Giants losing 39%." Sovereign stated also hacking the Cabal systems before the base began to shake and rattle with more explosions and alarms blaring. "Wait a sec… oh my."

"What is it?" Vlad asked.

"Images of a Dreadnought." Sovereign said.

"Send everything to the Vanguard and let's keep moving." Vlad said. "This place is starting to feel creepy."

"Eris?" Cayde asked putting a hand to her shoulders.

"They're getting louder." Eris hissed through gritted teeth, trying to focus as she leant against the table. "A name…"

"What name Eris?" Cayde asked.

Rose and Vlad stood at the doors of a large rounded room, neither liking the look of it or that they were going to have to go in there.

"Trap." Rose said.

"Yep." Vlad nodded. "Scared?" he asked.

"Not sure." Rose admitted. "Never faced this kinda goo-like stuff in my world. Or orbs that sucked things up and then vanishes."

"Tell you what. If this is something we have faced before you buy drinks." Vlad said.

"And if it's something new?" Rose asked.

"I'll make you dinner." Vlad smiled. "Anything you want, I'll cook for you. Nice candles, flowers, might even get Orion to part with some of that fancy Awoken wine he has stashed somewhere."

"Sounds like a date." Rose smiled as Vlad rubbed the back of his neck. "Ready?"

Vlad nodded and together they stepped into the room.

"Light!" The air grew heavy rapidly around them, almost bindingly dark as a voice snarled from the shadows. "Give your will, to me!" it snarled as a black and blue swirling orb appeared in the centre of the room and from within, came a large black knight, covered in a powerful burning negative light.

"What the fuck is that?" Vlad demanded.

"Whatever it is, it's not a normal Hive Knight!" Rose yelled as the two opened fire on the Knight, hoping to take it down before it took them down.

"What is going on?" Zavala demanded as he watched the ghost feeds. "Eris what kind of Hive is that?"

"That isn't Hive. It is a Taken Knight." Eris said, shaking her head trying to get the fog that clouded her mind to leave it. "That is- that is Syrok. He serves-Serves the Taken King."

"You're not making sense." Cayde said, "Rest a minute and clear your head."

"I must-"

"You must rest." Ikora said gently pulling Eris away from the table to allow her some privacy recover as Vlad and Rose were able to take down the Knight.

"This mission is scrubbed," Zavala said opening his comm-link. "Guardians, get to your ships and get out of there!"

 _~ "Yes Sir." ~_ Vlad answered as he and Rose ran from the room, ducking and jumping over more and more strange yet familiar foes as they ran.

"What's happening?" Rose asked as they ran, skidding into a wall to avoid the twitching mess that had been a Psion by the look of it before she began to run again.

"I don't know but it's bad." Vlad stated as they both opened fire on another Knight that spewed fire from somewhere on its circler white face.

 _~ "The base is lost. We have reports of these, 'Taken' across the system. Go, get out." ~_ Zavala yelled over the comms again.

"Our Ships! We're almost there!" Bing yelled.

"Ladies first." Vlad said as he opened fire on three Phalanxes as they appeared on the opposite side of a broken bridge, Rose kept running and jumped at the last minute, unloading her rifle clip into them as she fell from her jump, waiting for Vlad to join her as she took down more Psions.

"We're almost there!" Bing said in relief as he caught sight of their ships.

"Shit." Vlad said as more of their new foes seemed to just pop into existence. "What's your count?" He asked.

"Not even half a clip." Rose admitted. "Ideas?"

"Plan R with a hint of Plan R point two." Vlad suggested.

"Good plan." Rose smiled. "Bing start trans-matting the second we start running."

"Got it." Bing affirmed.

"Ready?" Vlad asked as their foes began to fire on them.

"Set." Rose nodded.

"RUN!" Vlad yelled and tossed both his grenade and smoke bomb at their foes Rose tossing hers as well and the two ran though the openings the resulting explosions made. Seconds before reaching their ships, Vlad heard Rose yell in pain twisting back to see her fall before her own trans-mat finished.

"Rose? You ok?!" he asked as Sovereign reported into Zavala.

 _~ "Fuck… shit that hurt!" ~_ Rose hissed in answer. _~ "Bing get us home." ~_

"Where'd you get hit?" Vlad asked.

 _~ "Back of my leg. Damn this hurts…" ~_ She said and Vlad heard Bing chiming and beeping as he tried to heal her. _~ "Are you alright?" ~_

"I'll be better when we know what the hell those things were." Vlad admitted. "Guess I owe you dinner." He added with a smile.

 _~ "Maybe tomorrow night? I think by the time we get home and hand over our reports it'll be well past midnight." ~_ She said.

"It's a date." Vlad smiled and closed the comm-link before holding a hand up to silence the question from Sovereign. "Yes I like her, no I am not going to rush this. And don't even mention that Warlock want to be. I don't want to think about her."

"I was going to say I'm glad you have moved on." Sovereign said. "And I erased her name from my memory after the harsh was she treated you. I wouldn't want to consider you ever thinking of her again."

"Good."

"Just one question." The Ghost said and Vlad looked at him. "Should we tell Orion he has to get on one knee before you or should I just tell Vakarian you're wooing Rose so Arielle doesn't zap you mid-flirt?"

"Oh Hush." Vlad said and lightly slapped his Ghost. "I haven't even thought that far ahead yet… she might not even like me the same way."

"One way to find out. No helmets to hide in when you're on a date." Sovereign reminded with a chuckle.

Arielle felt her world had been shattered and now laid broken at her feet.

Orion placed his hands on her shoulders as she watched the broken footage and read the reports over and over again, each time hurting that much more until he at last pried the control from her hands and set it aside before he embraced her tightly.

"She can't be gone." He heard her whisper. "It has to be wrong. It has to be a mistake…"

"Ari." He said softly, "Lindor is rarely mistaken, you taught her yourself."

"But she could be," Arielle said with fading hope in her voice as she searched her mind for the familiar links that had been there only hours before. "She could have- have misread or misheard something, been told bad Intel. I… I would know if the Queen was gone. I stood at her side for years. I am her Sword."

"You were her Sword." Orion reminded, "You left that life and yes you did go back to fight the new Wolves and you did swear your loyalty to her again, but you were not called to fight with her for this fight." He said.

"They are not gone Orion." Arielle said though he could see tears in her eyes as she clutched his chest armour so tightly her knuckles were white. "Tell me. Tell me they're not gone. Please. Please tell me-"

She didn't finish, the realization hit hard when she found she could no longer contact the Queen or Uldren through telepathy. The feeling of loss washing over her so harshly that she couldn't form words as she began to sob, held by Orion as the sky outside the tower darkened with storm clouds and thunder rumbled overhead.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter nine.

The Taken.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Vlad hissed as Arielle comforted Rose. The news the Queen was missing had hit both of them hard and neither could keep from tears, though Arielle was keeping the tears at bay with her anger. "The Queen does not just vanish!"

"We know. But according to my contacts and every patrol Petra has sent out to search for the Queen, there is no sign of her or the Prince." Ikora said, "There are signs that the Prince is still alive, his ship was tracked to Mars before it dropped from the radar, but beyond that."

"Beyond that you didn't find anything? Bullshit! You have contacts everywhere!" Arielle snarled from her place with Rose. "You have eyes and ears on every planet from here to Pluto! Someone has to have seen something! Either make 'em talk or I'll go get the information from them myself!"

"We are still getting reports from them." Ikora stated evenly knowing that Arielle was worried for her Queen, as were most Awoken Guardians and shouting back would not help.

The Awoken Guardians did not serve the Queen as Reef born Awoken did, but they respect her and would have answered if she had called, no matter the time or need. The Queen knew this, though Ikora had no idea why she wouldn't call them.

"What do we know about this Dreadnaught?" Orion asked, hoping to give Rose and Arielle more time to regain their composure. "How did it take out so much damage and why it took us five hours to get any news of this?"

"My contacts near Saturn say the weapon fired only once." Ikora explained and the Vanguard fell into their own conversation.

Rose didn't hear any of it, her mind reaching and searching for anything that could be the Queen, she had lost her Queen and people once, seen the terrible state the Wolves had left the Reef in and now she feared she would witness it all again.

The room suddenly turned green and Rose looked up sharply as the room went silent and Eris came from her shadow.

"They are Taken." Eris stated as her orb hovered over Cayde's map of the Dreadnought. "The crystal hasn't spoken since Crota's death. But now it speaks again."

"Why?" Vlad asked.

"Oryx has arrived, come to for fill the final covenant of his son." Eris said. "What you saw on Phobos was Oryx taking the Cabal, controlling their will."

"So we focus on this Taken Army, wipe them out until only Oryx is left." Zavala said.

"It won't work." Rose said, "We saw it on Phobos, whatever we killed, more just kept coming, that orb just sucked Centurions up like they were lightweights."

"Everything we kill, Oryx will replace." Eris nodded.

"The Dreadnought then." Ikora said. "How do we get past that weapon?"

Silence.

Then Cayde reached out and carefully lifted the orb off the map of the Dreadnaught, and placed it at the side of it. "This Oryx… He's Hive like Crota, right?"

"Yes." Eris said.

"Then he'll know Hive scent from Guardian," he said then looked to Vlad and Orion, "You two head for the Cosmodrome, top of the Colony ship in the Devil's Lair near the Blast, I stashed a Stealth drive up there before I was pulled into the Vanguard. Go get it and bring it back here."

"Got it." Orion said as the two took off.

"Rose, you and me are gonna go see Amanda, Eris, bring your ship in."

"What's your plan Cayde?" Ikora asked as Vlad and Orion hurried off and Arielle helped Rose back to her feet.

"Stealth drive on Eris's Hive smelling ship and a shit load of hope and prayers should get us past that weapon and give whomever we send the chance to disable the weapon and get us a trans-mat zone on the Dreadnaught. After that we can send in the cavalry." Cayde said.

"Arielle!" Ikora yelled as Arielle took off in a run. "Arielle?!"

She likely scared the Light out of the Guardians she passed, lightning dancing around her arms and her chest as she rushed for her ship, Vakarian trans-matting her into the pilot seat of her ship without a word as the engines roared to life.

She ignored the fact that ships were coming in at high speed as she raced out of the docks, blowing frames and Guardians over as she charged out into the air and then took off as fast as she could into the Atmosphere of earth and beyond.

She didn't care if she caused damage. She had to get to the Reef. She wanted answers and she was going to get them, somehow or another she was going to wring the answers out of those who had been left on the Reef even if she had to kill someone to do it.

"Where is she going?!" Zavala demanded when Arielle continued to ignore his comm calls.

"The Reef." Ikora said.

"You want someone else to fly my ship?" Eris asked as Cayde explained his plan to her in full as Rose helped Amanda prepare the needed tools and equipment for Eris's ship.

"You are the best chance we have of knowing what Oryx is plotting and what his move will be and you know more about the Hive then anyone." Cayde said, "We need someone else, someone who isn't scared to go alone and get us away past that Weapon."

"We shall need more than that." Eris said, "Oryx can move between realms, he can walk in this world and the Ascendant Realm, where eh Hive Gods rule from their thrones." Killing him in this realm will not kill him…"

"Then how do we do it?" Cayde asked. "How do we go about killing this guy and making sure he stays dead?"

"By becoming Ascendant." Eris said.

"And how do we do that?" Cayde asked and Eris shook her head. "Eris?"

"I have to meditate on this." She said, clutching her orb, "I must… I have to listen to what the shadows tell me and understand what Oryx will do now."

"Alright Eris." Cayde said, "If you need me, call."

"I will." She assured before slowly settling on the floor and close her eyes.

The Reef was a mess, Guardians who had been there for the Prison were scattered around, trying to help with the injured Awoken who had returned while the remaining chain of command struggled to keep control over everything.

That is to say, Petra and Variks were neck deep in the thick of the trouble and were moments from losing control as the Advisors to the Queen, soldiers, Guardians and every Awoken citizen demanded answers without pause or chance for either of them to answer.

"SILENCE!"

All eyes turned to the entrance of the chamber and Petra almost collapsed with relief.

"The Queen is NOT dead. And none of you have the skill, rights or authority to demand anything of anyone, now, get your asses back to your posts and help the injured or so help me I'll turn all of you into **_HIVE BAIT_**!" Arielle screamed as lightning danced over her body and the floor around her, forcing many to back up. "Move!"

The room soon emptied as people climbed over each other to escae the wrath of the angered Sword until only a few Tech Witches, Variks and Petra remain. Slowly Arielle recalled her storm, forcing herself to calm despite the inner turmoil and let out a long sigh.

"Illyn." She began, looking at the Techeuns Coven Mother. "Tell me. Everything."

The elder Witch nodded and stepped forwards. "The Queen had planned to move against this beast, this thing that claims to be King. She sought to slow it. Revel it to the Guardians and all in the system." She stated. "The plan was simple and while it seemed so easy the Queen planned for the worse outcome."

"Why?" Arielle demanded. "Why did she not call on me? On all the Awoken of the Tower. We would have helped."

"The Queen does not beg." Illyn reminded, "The Queen will bow to no one, The Queen will not give her enemies their desires and Mara Sov, Queen of all you behold and see now, as you did then, will never allow others to fight for what she calls her own. As her Sword, you know that better than anyone." She added before waving her Coven away. "We shall search her out in our chamber, if you need of us, come to us."

Arielle waited for her to leave before turning to Variks.

"Queen and Kell ordered that no one be told of her plans. Variks tied to seek understanding but Queen and Kell would not explain more." He admitted, bowing his head and shaking it somewhat. "Variks has not heard anything of Queen and Kell or Prince from Crows. Yet." He added.

"You control the Crows now?" Arielle asked.

"Queen and Kell commanded such if Master of Crows were to become, incapable." He said carefully thinking of his words.

"Then go, monitor them and tell me the second something is found."

"Yes, Variks will do this." He said and made his way out of the chamber as quickly as his old body would carry him.

"She told me to stay. After so long planning this she asked me to stay here." Petra said tossing her knife up and down. "I wanted to be there Arielle, I _should_ have been there, but she ordered me to stay behind. To wait here she wouldn't tell me why." She stated, balancing her knife on its tip with her finger.

"The Prince?" Arielle asked.

Petra shook her head. "He knew the plan but he has not come back since we lost contact with him, somewhere on Mars."

"And you are sure he is alive?" Arielle asked.

"He's too stubborn to die." Petra said, "Like you and the Queen, it will take more than a crash to kill him."

"Then find him." Arielle said turning to leave.

"What of you?" She asked.

"I need to know what she was thinking. If you need me, come find me." Arielle said leaving the chambers and headed to the one place she could really get into the Queen's head.

The throne room.

"Taken on Earth?!" Zavala demanded. "Where?!"

 _~ "Everywhere in the Cosmodrome, every one we killed another ten just popped in from thin air." ~_ Orion panted. _~ "We need better gear if we are gonna fight these things and come out on top sir, our current gear isn't holding up like it should!" ~_

"Stay alive Guardians and bring is that stealth drive." Zavala said, "You're our best hope." He added before shutting the comm-link off. "We already have the best our venders can make. What more can we do?"

"We're running salvage missions and working as fast as we can Zavala but even we can't make armour that fast." Lord Shaxx said, "And Lord Saladin is still out in the wilds gathering the rare materials."

"So we wait?" Ikora asked.

"We have no other choice right now." Zavala said.

"Damn he's pissed!" Orion hissed ducking for cover from the shadow form of Oryx and his Taken as he and Vlad searched for the Stealth drive Cayde had been talking about.

"Well, we did kill his son!" Vlad yelled over while tossing a grenade. "That drive had better still be here!"

 _~ "It's there trust me." ~_ Cayde said, _~ "Eris says aim for the eyes and head, that thing is an Echo, not the real Oryx." ~_ He added.

"Finally helpful news!" Orion yelled and unloaded his rocket launcher into the Echo's face. "Fucker!"

Vlad had time enough to peek out of the cover he was in to see the Echo be sucked into itself and vanished. "Cayde, where is this damn drive?" he asked wanting to get out of there and back to the Tower before more Taken showed up.

 _~ "Enter Frequency 5982. Then get your asses back here." ~_ Cayde said.

"Amen to that." Vlad said as they uncovered the stealth drives.

Arielle stared at Mara's throne. It was odd seeing it empty, knowing that Mara might not wouldn't sit in it again. For the first time in ages, the Reef no longer had a Queen.

Tears burned Arielle's eyes and she clenched her fists in anger and lightening travelled up and down her arms, but never left her. She approached the throne and glowered at it; why hadn't Mara told her? Why hadn't Uldren? She was the Queen's Sword! She should've had some word!

"Arielle."

The Warlock turned around to face Petra, she didn't bother hiding the anguish she felt; she trusted Petra with her life. The other woman paused at the sight of Arielle's unshed tears, and she nodded in understanding. They all needed to mourn. "I know that you need time, Ari, but Her Grace left this for you." Petra offered a letter.

Arielle laughed bitterly. "Of course she left me a letter." She said and took the letter, as Vakarian left her armour and hovered by his Guardian.

Arielle studied the seal, the same shade of purple that Mara loved with her mark imprinted upon it, before she opened the letter. Mara usually didn't write letters, she had others write them for her but Arielle supposed, this was important.

Arielle,

I decided it would be best that you not know what I was planning. I ordered Uldren, Petra, and Variks to secrecy, so do not punish them. It is in the best interest of the Reef that I leave you in the dark, and you should know that I am sorry for doing this to you. While we have only recently repaired our friendship, and you have returned to my side, I have done what you once made me promise I would never do.

Should anything happen to me in the battle against the Taken King, I appoint Arielle, the Queen's Sword, to rule in my stead as Queen Regent. None shall be above her; not even Uldren.

This may damage our friendship, and I will admit only to you that the thought causes me pain, but I must do what is best for the survival of our people, and the Reef. Someone must always be there to stand between the Reef and the Darkness, Arielle, but you already know this. They will look to you in my stead, keep the Awoken alive, there is no one I trust to do this more than you.

You will make a powerful and respected Queen, Ari. Do not allow your anger at me to keep you from protecting the Reef. They will look to you now; the Awoken will survive the Darkness.

Mara Sov.

Arielle's hands shook in anger as the tears that burned her eyes finally travelled down her cheeks. Mara never listened. She never fucking listened!

"Why couldn't you ever listen?!" Arielle screamed at the empty throne. "Why did you have to go behind my back?! Why weren't you ever honest with me!?"

Petra remained, standing in silence as she listened to her old friend scream at the empty throne. Arielle's rage was understandable, as was her pain. She listened to the footsteps Arielle took and finally looked up, thinking Arielle would finally sit on the throne. Instead, the Warlock simply stared at it, unmoving.

"I never wanted to sit here, Petra, you know that, don't you?" Arielle questioned, and Petra frowned in concern; Arielle's voice sounded so small.

"The entire Reef knows, Ari, they know how much you loved the Queen." Petra finally replied.

The Warlock nodded, "I can never sit here. This is hers, not mine, not even if she gifted it to me."

"The Awoken would look to you regardless, you are the Queen's Sword."

Arielle nodded, "Yes. I am the Queen's weapon, for her to use me as she wishes, to wield me in defense of our people and to order me to slaughter her enemies. I am whatever she needs me to be and right now, she needs me to be Queen."

The Stormcaller hesitated, clearly uncertain if she even wanted to sit on Mara's throne. Finally, she forced herself to sit down and she immediately burst into laughter. "That woman! That idiot woman! How could she sit on this stupid throne with all these damn pillows?"

Petra stared at Arielle in shock before her lips quirked into a smile, "She was particular, Ari."

The Warlock grinned, "Yes, very much so. I won't change her stupid chair, I don't want to deal with the complaints when she returns." Arielle sighed, "I suppose I'll have to acknowledge my new position."

"That would be best, the Reef will want to hear from you." Petra stated.

Arielle nodded, "Get Variks, I need him to send something over the channels."

Petra nodded and went to collect Variks. Though she was still mourning, Petra found herself smiling, Arielle would do as the Queen asked because she was the Queen's Sword. Arielle truly was the best person to replace Mara Sov.

Vakarian floated beside Arielle, "So, if you are Queen now. Am I a lord?" he asked.

"Don't even joke." The Warlock said. "And delete that picture."

"Never." Vakarian chuckled. "That's for my personal collection."

Ikora paused when she heard Arielle's voice come over the channel. She silenced everyone else in the room and raised the volume.

 _~ "To all that can hear this, the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov, has fallen in a battle against the Darkness. She took the best warriors the Reef had and she stood up to the Darkness herself, to defend the Reef and others across this galaxy. The Awoken will not falter and though we mourn, we are strong. The Wolves did not stand against us, they fell not once, but twice. Skolas is dead by my hand, twice. The Awoken are not weak, they will not go quietly into the night, not when Mara Sov wanted nothing more than the survival of her people. The Awoken and the Reef remain." ~_ Arielle sighed before continuing, _~ "The Awoken now turn their vengeance to the Taken; we will avenge our fallen and Mara Sov. This I swear, for I am Arielle, Queen of the Reef." ~_

"She's the Queen now?" Cayde asked.

"The Awoken will follow her." Ikora said, "She is no stranger to their ways and she stood at eth Queen's side for years before she came back to us. If anyone can keep the Reef from falling, it's Arielle."

"What do we do now?" Rose asked.

"We wait for Amanda to work her magic on Eris's ship and then we just have to find someone who is crazy enough to go to the Dreadnaught and take out that damn weapon." Zavala stated.

"Someone say crazy?" Vlad asked as he and Orion arrived. "We heard the message from Arielle, so we know the Reef is safe for now, but if we want that weapon down, we're gonna go do it."

"Vlad you have never been on a ship like this before, Fallen Ketches and Skiffs aren't like Hive ships." Ikora said.

"Then we'll wing it." Vlad said, "These Taken are showing up all over the Solar System, Venus, Mars, even Earth, there is no way you're telling me this will stop just so we can make a big plan. Let us go."

"Who?" Zavala asked, "No one person is going to make that kind of trip."

"Me, Orion and Rose." Vlad stated.

"Will you all fit in Eris's ship?" Zavala asked.

"No, but only one of us needs to get on Dreadnaught. The other two will stay at a distance and look for other ways onto the ship until the Trans-mat Zone is up and ready." Orion said. "Just give us the word and we'll be ready."

"Are you sure?" Ikora asked.

"Yes." Was the chorused answer.

"Arielle. Orion is calling." Vakarian stated quietly as Arielle quickly signed and checked off a dozen more weapons for use in the upcoming fight, every Awoken Guardian who came through the Reef was given orders to 'stow the anger and wait for the weapon to go down before we charge in' and those who needed something to do were on the Reef edge keeping the Ravens and Taken away.

"What does he want?" Arielle asked still signing papers and reading reports.

"They have a plan to bring the weapon down." Vakarian said and Arielle nodded.

"Privet line." The Warlock stated and Vakarian nodded opening the channel. "Talk fast I have papers everywhere and comm calls coming in every minute."

 _~ "Vlad, Rose and I are tossing coins to see who gets to go onto the Dreadnaught, but the plan is one of us gets on and takes it out, then when we get the trans-mat zone down, you will be the first person I call." ~_ Orion said. _~ "How are things there?" ~_

"If not for the fact everyone is wanting to fight this war now and avenge the Queen, I'd say this was boring." Arielle said. "Who's winning the coin toss?"

 _~ "So far Vlad and I are tied. Eris is in her room meditating on something, the Vanguard are trying to fight the Taken everywhere else… I'm starting to think we've lost our edge." ~_ He admitted. _~ "Wrex says he sees greys in my hair." ~_

"Premature greys, your still under the five hundred years mark." Arielle reminded with a smile.

 _~ "Only by a few months." ~_ Orion chuckled. _~ "You sure you're alright?" ~_

Arielle sighed. "I'm coping. I don't like it but this is her will and until she's found or Uldren comes out of radio silence so we can find him, I have to do this."

 _~ "Tell you what, we'll get this weapon down and as soon as we have wind of where she might be we'll go looking for her, heck you can drag Petra along and we'll turn that damn Hive ship inside out until we find the Queen." ~_ Orion said. _~ "How's that?" ~_

"I have to find Uldren before I can leave this over cushioned throne." Arielle said and moved positions again in the throne. "How did she sit in this damn thing so long?"

 _~ "Practice?" ~_ Orion chuckled and there was a pause. _~ "I'll help look for him when we get that weapon down Arielle, I promise. Much as he's not my favourite person in the world, he's still the Prince." ~_

"Take Vlad with you, just so someone with a level head can stop you punching each other." Arielle stated.

 _~ "Sure, as long as you let Rose come help you while I go looking." ~_ Orion said, _~ "She just lost the coin toss." ~_

"Deal." Arielle smiled then sighed as the doors opened ahead of her. "And here comes more paper work."

 _~ "Talk soon then?" ~_ Orion asked and she made a sound of affirmation. _~ "I love you." ~_

"I love you too."

"You leaving Orion for me?" Petra asked as she came over, carrying another dozen or so data reports.

"That was him on the comm, they're planning who goes on to the Dreadnaught to take down the weapon." Arielle explained, "Once that's done, we get a trans-mat on the Dreadnaught and every Guardian we have goes there and kicks Taken ass."

"Sounds like a plan." Petra nodded with a smile.

"So Vlad's flying Eris's ship and we get to play duck and dodge in the wreckage." Orion said as Rose helped pack the back of his cargo hold with extra ammo for when they did get down on the Dreadnaught.

"Basically, but if he gets killed he says I can make Bing revive him so he can take me on the date he owes me." Rose nodded.

"He owes you a date?" Orion asked.

"When we went to Phobos he said if we faced something we knew I had to buy drinks, but if it was something knew, he'd cook me a meal." Rose explained.

"Sounds like he meant it." Orion chuckled, "he hasn't cook a meal for a girl in a long time."

"How come?"

"It's not my place to say." Orion said, "But if you ever hear him say 'Heartless backstabber' or cursing up a storm for no apparent reason, best leave him alone for a few minutes. He'll tell you his reasons in his own time."

"Ok." Rose said as they finished loading up and locked everything in place. "Time to go."

 _~ "Good luck Guardians." ~_ Zavala said as they trans-matted into their respective ships, following Vlad in Eris's ship out of the Docks.

They made it to the Moon and watched with some relief as the Hail Storm ships drove the Hive to retreat and took down the hovering Hive ships with some ease before they entered jump space, listening to the comm chatter from Mars about more Cabal movement to try and keep the Taken away while the Vex seemed to be missing from around the gate to the Black Garden which as showing signs off Taken blight as Eris had called it.

"You sure you can do this?" Rose asked.

 _~ "I can do it. It just seems impossible because the Dreadnaught is so big and I just one Guardian." ~_ Vlad assured, _~ "I mean come on, we took down the Fallen and we have beaten Crota twice. This should be easy." ~_

 _~ "He says, forgetting that before he met me in the Crucible, he was getting his ass handed to him by a group of Trial Runners and almost got his head kicked in for accusing them of cheating." ~_ Orion pointed out.

 _~ "They were cheating, every time one of us set up to fight them, they used Heavy Sims to get rockets." ~_ Vlad stated. _~ "I can do this." ~_ He added.

 _~ "You had better." ~_ Arielle stated as she joined the comm-line. _~ "I got a hundred or more Guardians here waiting to follow you." ~_

 _~ "Tell them to hang back at the edge of the rings, Rose and Orion have the better ships to follow me in until I get that weapon down." ~_ Vlad stated. _~ "Do I have to call you 'Your Grace' now?" ~_

 _~ "You do and I'll rip your voice box out and reprogram it to sound like a little girl." ~_ Arielle stated.

 _~ "Aye Ma'am." ~_ Vlad chuckled as they passed the Reef now heavily patrolled borders. _~ "You've been busy." ~_

 _~ "Taken everywhere from Venus to Mars, how long until they try the Reef?" ~_ Arielle stated.

 _~ "We'll stop them Ari." ~_ Orion assured. _~ "Somehow." ~_

"Lots of preying, shit tones of bullets and a very angry fleet of Awoken from the Tower and Reef, plus lots of Guardians who want something to shoot at." Rose said. "It's like back home, just I'm not running around in the back of the fight taking pot shots anymore."

 _~ "Do you miss the running around?" ~_ Arielle asked.

"Nope." Rose smiled. "I'd still be a Gunslinger if I was running at the back."

 _~ "That's my girl." ~_ Arielle smiled. _~ "Do me a favour and save me some big kills, I'm gonna need to vent when I get out there." ~_

"I'll mark them for you." Rose promised.

"We're here." Orion said as they came out of jump space and slowly he and Rose backed off, staying at a much further distance as Vlad went closer. "Good luck Vlad."

Rose watched as the ship slowly slipped into the rings of Saturn and then fuzzed out of sight, holding her breath slightly as they waited for the word Vlad was down safe.

 _~ "So far so good." ~_ Vlad said.

 _~ "I'm picking up fluctuations in the power drive." ~_ Sovereign stated.

 _~ "Likely Saturn's rings running interference." ~_ Cayde stated.

Then the alarms started going off, loudly. "It's malfunctioning!" Sovereign said.

 _~ "Fuck. Vlad we can see you!" ~_ Orion called down.

 _~ "The weapon's charging!" ~_ Rose stated as Eris's ship suddenly jolted forwards with a burst of speed. _~ "Vlad get out of there!" ~_

"Come on, come on…"

The weapon fired seconds later turning Eris's ship into space dust, and for a few seconds there was nothing, no comm chatter or sign anything had survived the blast.

 _~ "Vlad?" ~_ Rose asked.

 _~ "What happened? Everything alright?" ~_ Cayde asked.

"Why wouldn't it be alright? We're just stuck here with no ship and no trans-mat zone." Sovereign stated sounding annoyed as Vlad dusted himself off.

 _~ "You're ok?" ~_ Rose asked.

"We're fine." Vlad assured. "Just a little charred from that blast is all." He added, "Stay at a safe distance and wait for my call."

 _~ "Alright." ~_

"She's worried about you." Sovereign said.

"No shit." Vlad huffed as they headed inside. "She just watched me almost get blown up by a blast that killed everyone who came before us, why wouldn't she be worried?"

"No, I mean she's really worried, like genuinely." The Ghost stated, "You know like when Arielle first met Orion and he though she was gonna die after she stepped off that ledge when we went to stop the Restorative Mind."

"You're mistaken." Vlad said.

"Am not." His Ghost said. "She likes you."

 _~ "You two do know we can still hear you right?" ~_ Orion asked.

"Shit." Vlad said. "We'll talk about it later and then-"

 _~ "Vlad?" ~_ Orion asked after his friend went silent.

"That orb's back." Vlad said, levelling Thorn at the orb at the end of a long corridor as it hovered over a bridge.

 _~ "That thing that sucked up the Cabal?" ~_ Rose asked.

"Yep." Vlad said.

 _~ "Then Oryx must know you're there." ~_ Orion said. _~ "Hope you took some sims with you." ~_

"Traveler bless Banshee-44." Vlad smirked. "Talk later." He added cutting the comm-link.

He was alive.

In pain, but alive, both arms still attached, both legs still attached everything in its right place…

Move. He had to move get out of his ship and get outside. Figure out where he was, slowly he released the catches of his harness and tried to get out of it, if he could do that he could reach his breather and at least move outside.

Pain raced up his right leg, enough to make him stop and look at his legs, seeing that his leg was trapped and he'd not be able to release himself.

"Wonderful." He hissed reaching to his comm link, only to find it filled with static and sparking. "Great." He huffed pulling the ships comm device from its place and pulled the back off, carefully twisting and tweaking the wires. "Come on, come on."

He smiled as the fiddling at last made the device start to give off a light bleeping sound. A signal that his Crows would find and follow right to him.

And hopefully send help.

 _"Do you believe this anomaly is a threat?"_

"I do not."

 _"Do you think it will become a problem if left alone?"_

"I do not."

 _"Do you believe it will remain on the Tower when this is over?"_

"I do."

 _"Then we shall leave this anomaly be for the time being. But continue to watch it as we have the others."_

"As you wish." She left her masters at that, feeling glad she had for filled her duty to them and that Rose and her friends would for now be left alone.

Right now she doubted they needed to be watched by everyone as they faced this new evil, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before another issue came up and her master asked her to look into it.

They always did.

Eris breathed slowly and deeply, her room in total darkness as she sat cross legged in the center of a glowing green mark on the floor. Her orb hovering before her as she searched the shadows. She found he smallest fragments of light, corrupted and twisted by unspeakable pains caused by the Taken King. She prayed for them as she continued her search, finding the faintest touches of dead minds that were familiar.

Kalli. Sedia. Shuro Chi. Tech Witches of the Reef, tortured until the very end… She prayed the Queen was not amongst these lost lights.

She searched deeper and stopped, finding the answers she wanted and something she had hoped never to hear again.

She left the shadows and quickly hurried to her feet and out of her room, only to find Cayde stood at her door about to knock. "Eris?"

"I know what must be done to reach Oryx." She said, though her voice as shaking.

 _~ "How's it coming Vlad?" ~_ Orion asked as he searched for the last weapon channel.

"Almost done. Just one more weapon channel to take down." Vlad admitted shooting something as he talked. "Lots of Hive and lots of Taken here though."

 _~ "It's a Dreadnaught, there was bound to be Hive there- Oh shit Rose move!" ~_

 _~ "Whoa!" ~_

"What's happening?" Vlad asked seconds before the whole of the Dreadnaught began to shake and echo with a terrible thundering sound. "Guys!?"

 _~ "Cabal ship, Skyburners colours! It just rammed the back of the Dreadnaught." ~_ Rose reported.

"The Cabal?" Vlad asked.

 _~ "We will deal with them later." ~_ Cayde stated over the comms, _~ "Get your ass to the breach and get the Trans-mat zone up so we can send in the cavalry." ~_

Sovereign fizzed into life and scanned the area before bouncing in a nod. "That way." He said showing Vlad a mark on his radar. "That's where the Breach is. Expect trouble." he added.

"What say with give them something to dance too?" Vlad smirked reloading Thorn.

Orion smiled as he heard the sound of music filtered through the comms. "He's having fun." He said as the music grew loader and they saw the way in the Cabal had made for them, catching sight of Hive and Cabal fighting while a familiar cloak raced through the fray shooting at anything that dared get in his way as he headed towards a broken edge of breach.

"Trans-mat Zone up!"

 _~ "Incoming!" ~_ Rose called as she and Orion trans-matted in. "Hi."

"Down!" Orion yelled and Vlad pulled Rose with him as a large blast hit where they had been stood.

"Ow." Rose winced then blinked from where she'd landed under Vlad, glad her face was covered by the helmet as she sure we was blushing. "Hi again."

"Hi." Vlad smiled.

"A tank!?" Bing gasped. "They brought a Tank to a gun fight!"

"And the Hive brought Ogres." Orion said. "Wrex bring down some ammo crates from the ship, we're gonna need them."

"Sorry." Vlad said helping Rose back to her feet.

"Don't be." Bing chimed with a smile in his voice. "Rose likes you too."

"Hush you." She said and pushed Bing into her chest armour. "So, um, Cabal, Tank, Hive, and three of us…"

"Sounds like a party to me." Orion smiled. "Music requests?"

"I know one!" Bing called and Rose smiled as the upbeat music filled the air.

"What song is that?" Petra asked hearing the music flood the comms as Arielle watched the fight via telemetry.

"Sounds like a remix of 'Fly me to the Moon.'." Arielle smiled. "Good music choice." She added as Rose and her team took on the Tank and all else that came at them.

"Is she singing along?"

"Sounds like it."

Arielle smiled. "It is a catchy tone." She said as they continued to watch, seeing the Tank start to take heavy damage as more Guardians began to arrive, weapons hot and ready to fight as they dropped in.

"Is it me or is Vlad… no it's not just me, he's right behind her," Vakarian said, "I think he's in love."

"Good for him," Arielle smiled and turned to Petra, "set up a patrol and have every Awoken we can spare making their way to the Dreadnaught in search of Mara Sov. Now."

"Yes your grace." Petra said and ducked out of the room before Arielle could scald her.

"They're running away!" Bing cheered.

"For now." Orion nodded opening his com-link. "Commander Zavala, we have a secure way on to the Dreadnaught and time to spare, orders?"

 _~ "Queen Arielle is sending patrols from the Reef to search for the Queen and other Guardians have been tasked with searching the Dreadnaught of any other trouble we might have to deal with. I need you three to go further in and try to find where Oryx is and what we will be facing before we can shut him down for good." ~_ Zavala said.

"I have an idea were that might be." Vlad said and lead them back the way he had come, towards a large forked structure that stood in the middle of an open area. "Look familiar?" he asked.

"Just like the thing at the back of Crota's throne room on the Moon." Orion said. "Zavala if this is the way to Oryx we're not getting past it without some serious help."

 _~ "Eris wants you three rested and prepared before she sends you in there." ~_ Cayde explained.

 _~ "Then for now there is little more you can do for us. Get some rest and we'll contact you when we have a plan." ~_ Zavala stated.

"Hey Arielle, mind if we stop by the Reef? I need to fuel up and its safer for Sovereign to bring my ship there." Vlad asked.

 _~ "Just don't dock in the front of the bay, I have ships coming and going ever hour and no time for dented or scratched paint work." ~_ Arielle assured.

He looked up hearing the flap of huge wings and cursed his luck as a large shadow passed over head. "Oh for the love of… great. Just fucking great." He cursed.

He reached for his gun and then paused as he watched the Tai Ravens circle and then land in what he could only assume was its nest realizing he was on the very outer edge of the nesting site as he heard other Ravens screech and hiss.

If he fired now, he would only become target for them as he was trapped in his ship. And an easy meal for any young Ravens that did come to investigate his crashed ship.

"Fuck." He huffed and sank back in his seat.

"How long has it been since you rested?" Petra asked as Arielle started to sign even more papers.

"Since before I got here." Arielle said.

"So longer than twenty four hours." Petra said and Arielle paused. "It zero seven am earth time Arielle. You've been at this none stop since you arrived." She added. "Even a Queen needs to sleep."

"And who is going to clean up this mess?" Arielle asked.

"I have a pen and lots of ink and I am more than sure Variks has the same." Petra smiled. "Go and rest, I'll personally wake you the minute we have news on the Queen or the Prince."

"Thank you Petra." Arielle said and then smiled. "You know Orion is on his way here don't you?"

"Maybe." Petra said though there was that hint of a smile on her face.

"If Mara was still the one on this throne you wouldn't be so calm about this, would you?" Arielle asked.

"If she were here, Illyn would be the one telling her to go rest and I would be handed everything with the simple command of 'sign it and send it'." Petra chuckled. "But seriously, you need to rest or you will get cramped up."

"How do you know?"

"I once asked the Coven Mother, when I was much younger, why the Queen moved from place to place in her throne. She told me to try sitting in a chair for a whole day as she did but not to move once my body was in what felt like a comfortable place. I did and never want to go through that pain again."

"As bad as that?" Arielle asked.

"I had to be carried out of my office to my room and I was still in pain the following morning." Petra admitted ad the two shared a laugh. "Arielle, may I ask you something? As a friend?"

"You know you don't have to ask me if you can ask a question." Arielle said. "What's on your mind?"

"What will you do, if we can't bring her back?" Petra asked and Arielle sighed her shoulders sagging slightly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You know me well enough to know I don't want this to be my life forever." Arielle said, "Honestly I don't know what I will do, the Reef has only ever bowed to a Queen so if I am to leave I must find a replacement for me, I could appoint someone else but they would have to know the laws and ways of the people or," She stopped and shook her head. "I would have to birth an heir."

"Ah. I see the issue there." Petra said.

While Orion and Arielle were lovers, any daughter they had would not be considered an heir to the throne as neither Arielle nor Orion were biologically tied to the Royal line. If Uldren were the one to father a daughter with Arielle however, that daughter would have the rights to the throne.

"So to be honest," Arielle said, "I have no idea what I will do… But I am praying that I don't have to stay here long." She added.

"How are you going to deal with any suitors that do try for you hand?" Petra asked, "I mean I know you're with Orion and so does Variks and most of the Guardians, but I bet there are a few men here who haven't got that message yet."

Arielle smiled and cracked her knuckled as lightning danced down her arms. "I have my ways." She said then chuckled as she spotted Vlad, Rose and Orion ahead of her, the Titan carrying a sleeping Vlad while Rose opened the door to the Hunters' pre-prepared room. "He over work his systems again?" she asked.

"Yep, out like a light the minute he was in the ship." Orion chuckled.

"Need me to baby sit?" Petra asked.

"No thank you. We've got this." Sovereign stated.

"We?" Petra asked.

"He means him, Bing and Rose." Orion chuckled. "They're sharing a room while I tell Cayde he has to have a very uncomfortable conversation with Eris about her ship." He added.

"It can wait." Arielle smiled. "I'm sure he's already telling her about it as we speak."

"Good point." He smiled and set Vlad on the bunk. "When he wakes up tell him to clean up, he smells like old oil."

"Says the Titan ho always smells like burnt Vex and rotten Hive." Variks stated as he passed the dorm rooms. "New reports from the Warden in Prison," he stated offering Arielle a data pad.

"Petra and you are on data report duty until I wake up or the Crows find Uldren." Arielle stated.

"Yes, yes of course." Variks said with a slight bow of his head, Arielle may not demand he bow at the waist but he held more respect for her than any normal Guardian.

"Good," Arielle said and then dragged Orion off by the shoulder armour. "Good night Rose."

"Night Arielle." Rose smiled.

Breathe in. Pain everywhere. Breathe out. Keep breathing, just keep breathing. Stay alive. Do not give them the pleasure of knowing you're are in pain. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Over and over she told herself how to breathe. Told herself she was still alive and thus could not relax and allow herself to feel at ease.

She had to hold on.

She just had to keep breathing, in and out, keep herself focused on that and not the pain. Just keep breathing until her heart stopped or a rescue came.

Whichever came first she just had to keep breathing. In and out. In and out.

"You want us to go to the Moon?" Rose asked.

 _~ "Yes. I can give you a shard of crystal Arielle retrieved during his defeat before your arrival here Rose but we must fill it with Crota's soul if we are to gain entry into Oryx's realm and defeat him." ~_ Eris explained.

"So we're going soul stealing?" Vlad asked.

 _~ "Basically." ~_ Cayde said. _~ "We have the cloaking tech from Rasputin thanks to Lindor's team, apparently she and Rasputin share a love of something called Power Puff Girls and he gave her the tech as a gift for letting him download the whole series on to his systems." ~_

"Cute." Rose chuckled.

 _~ "You must hurry, the Hive are already preparing Crota's essence for the next realm." ~_ Eris said.

"Vlad! Get your ass up boy!" Arielle yelled as she all but knocked the door in with her knocking. "They found Uldren! You're going with Orion to get his ass back here!"

 _~ "This cannot wait." ~_ Eris stated.

"Then I'll go alone." Rose said.

"Are you sure?" Vlad asked.

"I ran around by myself in my world even after I met Ace and J-Cey, I can do it again here." Rose assured, "then when we beat Oryx we can have our date."

"Vlad come on!" Orion yelled.

"If you need me comm, ok." Vlad said.

"Promise." Rose said. "And don't worry, I'm a big girl now."

"Vladamir-66 do not make me break this door down!" Arielle yelled just as the door opened and Vlad marched out past her. "Hey!"

"Mood killer." He muttered.

"What?" Arielle asked, "Wait Rose where are you going?" she added as Rose headed towards the docks as well.

"Eris needs me to go to the Moon, Vlad was gonna go with me just to make sure I was ok, but I can do it alone." Rose said.

"To the moon? For what?"

"Crota's soul." Rose said, "I'll be back with it so we can go kick Oryx's ass when Uldren is back. So it all works out." She added.

"Are you sure, I can send someone with you." Arielle said.

"I'll be ok, I've got Bing and a Hive expert on Comms if I need help." Rose assured Trans-matting into her ship. _~ "Thanks for the offer though." ~_

"Be careful." Arielle said.

 _~ "As careful as a Hunter carrying a kitten." ~_ Rose assured as the ship started up.

"So where is the Prince?" Vlad asked.

 _~ "Signal says his in the Valley of Kings and according to the Crows, he's hurt." ~_ Orion said as they travelled through jump space.

"Then let's make this a quick in and out." Vlad said, "I don't wanna be the one to tell Arielle he died from Blood loss or got eaten by Ravens."

 _~ "Amen to that." ~_ Orion said.

They left jump space and Vlad shuddered at the sight of Mars, it looked duller now and he could see huge fires in the ruins of the Buries City and the Dust Palace. Fires that no doubt were a result of the Cabal fighting the Taken and the Tai Ravens.

"Looks bad down there." Vlad said.

 _~ "We've got to find him Vlad." ~_ Orion said. _~ "Arielle will kill me if we don't." ~_

"I hear you." Vlad said. "Set us down in Legion's Keep and we'll advance from there. Any closer and we'll risk setting the Ravens off."

"Setting down near Legion's Keep." Sovereign stated as they flew low. "Let's hope it's clear of Cabal at least."

 _~ "Don't jinks us." ~_ Orion stated as they came down to land.

The air was heavy with smoke and hot from fire and the natural heat from Mars, the scent of burnt metal and rotten corpses even with their helmets filtering the air. The sky was dark and almost black with the smoke of the fires.

"He could have picked a better place to land." Vlad said. "Arielle are you seeing this?"

 _~ "Yes, and for the sake of the Reef I hope you find him alive." ~_ Arielle said.

"The signal is coming from that direction, we better hurry before someone else picks up on it." Sovereign stated as Vlad summoned his Sparrow.

"Let's go."

"Eris, where are we heading?" Rose asked as she looked around the darkness. "I can't see any tomes here."

 _~ "When the death singers begin their song you will know you are close, cross the bridge in front of you and head into the light, keeping out of sight as you go, Oryx is watching this place." ~_ Eris explained.

"Ok," Rose nodded, and once the bridge was formed she hurried across it and back herself against a pillar to catch her breath.

She moved swiftly from cover to cover, making sure she wasn't in the light for longer than she needed to be.

"Creepy." Bing said, "Very creepy."

"Shhh." Rose hushed softly. "We'll be out before you know it," She assured as they crossed through the light into a familiar room. "Crota's realm?"

 _~ "This realm is secrete to the Hive, they are crowned and prepared here before they are named Gods." ~_ Eris explained.

 _~ "Cloak now Bing and then keep your distance, the Hive can't see you but they can still smell you." ~_ Cayde stated.

Rose nodded and Bing gave a soft bleep. "I can't see you." Bing said, "Can you see me?"

"Nope." Rose smiled, "Now we just have to get to that door." She said looking out over the chasm at the large door and the large Knights and Ogres that were in their way.

 _~ "Move silent and unseen, like death." ~_ Eris said.

"Easy enough." Rose said, before quietly moving along the wall, watching the Hive Knights move back and forth waiting to see when her best chance would be to move.

Eris watched carefully, clutching her orb close to her chest as she saw Rose take the same, careful steps she had once taken all those years ago, trying to find the safest way around those who could have killed her as the screams of her team mates echoed around her.

She prayed that this mission did not cost another life.

Vlad slowed to a steady hover as he looked around, "Lots of Raven nests, but not a lot of crash damage or signs of the Prince." He said.

 _~ "The signal is coming from further in. He might have managed to move." ~_ Arielle said.

"He's ahead of us and somewhere on the roof according to this." Orion said dismounting his Sparrow. "Looks like we're climbing." He added.

"Fine by me." Vlad said. "Anyone got word from Rose yet?" He asked.

 _~ "We're watching her progress but so far, she's not in a place where she can just make a comm call." ~_ Cayde said. _~ "She's alright. For now." ~_

"Ok." Vlad stated as they jumped and climbed up the broken walls and windows of what might have been a sky scraper at one point.

Wrex chuckled. "Rose and Vladimir, sitting in a tree." He began to sing.

"Shut it or I'll upload the Polka song into you." Vlad hissed.

 _~ "That would be a laugh." ~_ Arielle stated.

"Hold up." Orion stated and Vlad looked up, seeing the slight movement of large wings. "Ravens." The Titan hissed.

"Lots of them." Vlad nodded. "Better be hush-hush from now on."

"Agreed." Orion nodded as they continued to quietly move up the ruins and crawled around the nests, searching for any sign of Uldren or his ship.

Vlad spotted it first and realized Uldren couldn't see them as the cock pit was partly covered in sand and dirt. The problem was that between them and Uldren was a very large Raven, awake and watching the area with unblinking eyes.

"Shit." His cursed softly as he and Orion reached a small ledge where they could survey the area and work out a plan. "Ok, so what do we do?" he asked.

"Um… Yea working on that." The Titan said, "Can you cloak us both and get us to him?"

"It's gonna be the getting him out of there that's the trouble." Vlad said, "My cloak won't work for long and the minute we're seen we'll be Raven food."

 _~ "Cheerful way to look at things." ~_ Arielle said.

"Honest way to look at it." Vlad stated.

 _~ "Cabal troop movement incoming." ~_ Wrex stated. _~ "They're moving this way." ~_

"It might buy us time." Vlad said watching as a Cabal ship swooped overhead and swung around, causing the Ravens to flare their wings and hiss up at the ship as Cabal dropped down and opened fire on them.

"Time to move." Orion said.

Uldren hissed as an explosion smashed into the ground next to his ship, causing the ship to rock slightly and shift his leg painfully.

"Prince Uldren?!" a muffled voice called as someone knocked on his cockpit glass. "Are you able to run?" They asked as he realized it was the Hunter from Arielle's team and the Titan.

"I'm pinned in here." he answered. "My right leg is broken."

"Put your breather on! We're getting you out of there and back to the Reef!" The Titan stated, throwing up his shield as Uldren reached back grabbing his breathing and placing it over as the Hunter and Titan heaved his cockpit open.

"This is gonna hurt." Vlad stated as grabbed the metal pinning the Prince.

"You can yell at me later." Orion said putting his arms under Uldren's and prepared to pull him out as on as Vlad lifted the plating off Uldren's legs. "Just you?" he asked.

"Do you see anyone else?" Uldren growled through his teeth, more from the pain in his leg then anger. "My sister?"

"Still searching. Arielle is Queen until further notice." Orion stated pulling Uldren from the wreckage and then lifted his arm over his shoulder. "Your sister's order." He added.

"She's pissed with me then?" Uldren asked.

"Very." Vlad nodded and summoned his Sparrow again as the shield began to crack at the edges. "When the dome drops we're heading back to Legion's Keep, it's safer there and we can at least get your leg in a spilt before we get you home."

"Fine." Uldren hissed as Orion helped him onto his Sparrow.

Crossing the bridge was easier than Rose thought it would be, but it seemed that the Gatekeeper refused to move from the top of the stairs and out of the way of the door. So Rose was hiding, trying to stay at a safe distance while trying to make a plan from getting past the Gatekeeper and getting through the doors.

 _}~ "Ideas?" Bing whispered._

 _"Hmmm…" Rose said looking around and the said. "Stone throw."_

 _"Eh?" Bing asked._

 _"Just stay inside and hush." Rose smiled and picked up a lose slate from the floor. ~{_

Eris smiled as the Hive Knights and Ogre charged towards a falling piece of wall that had suddenly began to fall apart, even the Gatekeeper rushed to see what was happening leaving the door unguarded as Rose slipped inside.

 _~ "We're in." ~_ Rose said.

"Clever girl." Cayde praised. "Now let's get this wrapped up and get you home, Vlad's texting every five minutes for a progress update."

 _~ "Really?" ~_ Rose asked. _~ "I told him I'd be ok." ~_

"He worries." Cayde chuckled.

 _~ "I hear something." ~_ Rose said.

"Deathsingers. Follow their cry," Eris said though she shuddered as Rose drew closer to eth sound making it louder.

"Eris?" Cayde asked.

"It was just as this when I walked in the dark." Eris said, "Their wretched songs in the wind as Eriana fell."

 _~ "Eriana? As in Eriana-3?" ~_ Rose asked.

"Yes." Eris said. "I was certain that she would be the one survive the hell we faced down there… but I was wrong."

 _~ "Maybe not." ~_ Rose said. _~ "As long as you remember her, she's still living. Even if we can't see her." ~_

"Where did you hear that?" Eris asked.

 _~ "Ikora told me the same thing when I asked why she spoke of the dead as if they were still with us. She told me as long as we remember everyone we love and were close to, they live on with us, only when we forget them are they truly gone." ~_ Rose resisted.

"Poetic." Eris smiled and just what someone like Ikora would say.

Rose smiled as she lowered herself down wither hands and then let go as she dropped into a pit where the Deathsingers' songs were louder. "Oh my..."

"I'm guessing that's Crota's tome." Bing said as they looked at a large floating box of some kind with a coffin in the room ahead of them.

 _~ "You must get closer to it so the crystal may drink what remains of Crota's soul before it is gone." ~_ Eris said.

"Ok." Rose nodded and quietly made her way out of the room, moving at a distance to avoid the Knights around her and the Wizards that patrolled the alcoves and side wings that she might have been able to use to get closer to the tome. Eris clutched her orb close as she watched Rose at last reach the tome and gently place the Crystal against it, watching the stolen item behind to glow with the same eerie green glow of life it had once had.

 _~ "It's working." ~_ Bing whispered. _~ "How much do we need to pass as an Ascended Hive?" ~_

"Only a taste, but take whatever you can." Eris said.

Rose nodded and once she was sure the Crystal was full moved back and put the crystal into her belt pouch and made to head back the way she had come to leave when she realized her cloak was fading.

"Shit!" she hissed and quickly made her way back to the short corridor she had entered from just as her cloak faded. "Cayde something's wrong! The cloak is gone!"

 _~ "Lock for trans-mat and get out of there!" ~_ Cayde yelled.

"I can't!" Bing panicked, "Everything is corrupted!"

 _~ "Stay *static*" ~_ Cayde ordered brokenly as Taken began to appear around the room as Rose ducked for cover. _~ "You hear me? *static* Rose?! Bing?! *static*" ~_

Rose put a hand on her chest where Bing was hiding. "Keep trying to lock for trans-mat, get out even if you have to leave me, understand?"

"I'll get us both out. I promise." Bing assured.

"Arielle is Queen Regent. Isn't she?" Uldren asked.

"Yes she is." Orion stated.

"And you know she hates it, don't you."

"The whole Reef knows it."

"Then why isn't she here?"

"Because the Queen asked her to do it. And until we get you back to the Reef she can't leave the throne and do what she wants to do." Orion said, "But you already know that."

Uldren nodded. "How did the Queen tell her of this?"

"A letter." Orion said. "Arielle was not happy about it, but she understands why the Queen would do it. And that there was no one else who could take the throne even though Arielle hates the idea that she is replacing the Queen."

"That wasn't the plan." Uldren stated.

"But it's how she feels." The Prince stopped and looked at Orion in confusion. "Before Mara Sov was named Queen of the Reef, She fought alongside her people and you as an equal and even after she earned the title of Queen, she remained a woman famed for not only her grace on the battlefield but also for her ruthlessness and her ability to lead without seemingly any effort. Every Awoken knows her story and every Awoken woman strived to prove they can be just as strong willed as her. But none of them will ever be her."

"I know that. But why does it matter to Arielle?"

"Because Arielle isn't Mara." Orion said, "She can't carry the weight of so many people's hopes on her shoulders like Mara can, nor can she call herself worthy of the name Queen. I know she's earnt it time and again but to Arielle those deeds were done because they were part of her duty not because she wanted to prove herself worthy of a title or a crown. Heck the number of times she's turned down the chance to have her name in the Warlock Scholar Halls or to have her own personal team of Warlocks at her command is countless."

"She has been asked to lead?" Uldren asked.

"Many times." Orion nodded, "But she doesn't want that kind of life, to have everyone watching her every move and taking her words as law. She's happy to follow and teach at her own pace. If you and Mara can't see that after so long with her, I'm not surprised she was so pissed when she arrived on the Tower."

Uldren winced and couldn't stop himself saying. "I suppose you were just as angry when she told you what happened."

"Actually," Orion said, "She never told me why she left the Reef. At least not in detail, she just said she'd discovered something she didn't agree with and that she didn't want to talk about it."

"You never asked for more details?" Uldren asked in shock. "I thought you two were lovers now?"

"Arielle will tell me the whole story when she is ready to tell me, until then I just go on the assumption that someone said or did something that made Arielle mad enough to leave and that's it." Orion said. "Just because I love her doesn't mean I have to know the whole story about her life before me right away. There are things about me I haven't told her yet."

"Why?"

"There are somethings I'm not ready to tell her, just like Vlad will no doubt keep some secretes from Rose."

"They are together?" Uldren asked.

"Not yet. But they are starting to warm to each other." Orion chuckled as they reached the Reef borders. "I hope you are ready to be shouted out." He added.

"I was expecting it when you found me." Uldren admitted.

 _~ "Oh no, I plan on tearing you a new ass hole when we are face to face, so help me I have a few choice words I want to say to you." ~_ Arielle stated over the comm link.

Rose yelped clutching her shoulder from the blast that had smashed into her, unloading a round into the Taken Psion's face in return. "Fucker!"

"Rose!" Bing cried in alarm. "Rose please! Let me help you!"

"Stay inside!" she snarled firing three arrows and then unloading her rifle into the Taken Thrall that charged her. "Eris!? Cayde!? Anyone!?" She called into the comms, "Someone?!"

This was bad, the whole of Oryx's Taken army seemed to be moving down on her, flooding her little cover with their attacks and leaving her no time to attack or regain any kind of sense.

"Damn it all. I am not dying here!" Rose snarled tossing her grenade into eth Taken forces. "You hear me Oryx!? I'm not dying here!"

 _}"Guardian!"{_ A familiar voice echoed around her.

"Eris?!"

 _}"Come. With. Me!"{_ Eris demanded as her voice echoed around Rose, filled the air with echoing chants of an unknown language while Rose continued to shoot and fight the Taken that surrounded her.

Then suddenly she was outside the tome, stood atop the stairs where she had first activated the cloak.

"Where?" Bing asked then stopped as the comm channels cleared.

 _~ "It was the best I could do with so little time." ~_ Eris said, sounding exhausted and weak, but relived.

"You… You pulled us out of there?" Bing asked.

 _~ "One of Tolland's tricks. An incantation to use the Darkness to reach and physically move someone to another place. It can be done planet to planet but with so little time I could only move you a short distance." ~_ Eris explained. _~ "There is nothing I fear more than the Dark, but I will not lose another Guardian to this place." ~_

"Thank you Eris." Rose smiled as Bing trans-matted them back to her ship and set course for the Reef.

 _~ "You have what remains of Crota's soul now and the means to find Oryx on the Dreadnaught." ~_ Eris stated. _~ "When you find him, you must end this." ~_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter ten.

The Sunless Cell.

 _"All this time and you two didn't even hear a damn word I said! Did you think just because I returned to my position as Her Sword when the Wolves showed up again I had changed my mind?! I told you before I wanted nothing to do with this damn replacement plan you two had cooking up and you STILL let her leave me as the Regent in her absence! So help me if you were anyone else I'd have killed you for this! Are you even listen to me now?! Damn it Uldren! LOOK AT ME!"_

Arielle could almost be heard shouting outside the throne room, though most Awoken were wise enough to politely ignore the conversation.

Vlad leant against Variks' stand, checking and rechecking his weapons to pass time until Rose returned while Orion stood with Petra, going over a few plans for search parties as Arielle continued her 'talk' with the Prince.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Arielle demanded, lightning striking around the throne room but miraculously doing no damage to the throne itself. "Damn her orders and tell me the truth or so help me you will have more to worry about that a broken leg!"

"The Queen made her wishes clear surrounding the chain of command Arielle and with all that has been happening, I couldn't just demanded time to speak with you without her knowing." Uldren stated, "I tried to convince her to find another way, but when Omnigul was killed Oryx made his move. We had no time to change anything or find someone else. The Reef knows you Arielle, her people know and respect you. They will follow you far better than they would a stranger."

"This is NOT what I want, Uldren! I should be out there on the Dreadnaught searching for her, not stuck in this damn Ketch acting as her replacement when there is a chance she is still alive!"

"A chance?" Uldren asked shaking his head. "She **_is_** alive. I can still sense her, she's alive in there."

"Then where is she?!" Arielle demanded, "I've had Petra sending scout and search parties into that ship for the past five days and we've found nothing! Not a single trace of her."

"I can't tell you where she is, not exactly but I know she is alive. I can feel it." Uldren said, "She's still here, somewhere on the Dreadnaught." He explained.

"Good," Arielle said and Uldren looked up to see Vakarian hover down and whisper something to Arielle. "Now, since you clearly are in no state to join us, you have a new task while I go searching for the Queen."

"Arielle you can't leave the Throne because I've returned." Uldren reminded, "I'm not allowed to take command of the Reef even if you order it."

"And you won't." Arielle said. "But I cannot sit here and do nothing while Mara is on that ship going through Traveler knows what hell. I will have the Witches measure up Rose, Vlad and Orion some new armour and Variks to finish those weapons he's been working on, then leave the Throne room to meditate in my room. Your job is making sure anyone who asks where I am doesn't disturbed me while Petra and Variks handle the paper work while I 'search for the Queen' in my meditation. Understood?"

"You know this is going to get us both in trouble if you are found out to be gone." Uldren said.

"As a very wise Hunter once told me, the thrill of being caught is what makes breaking the rules fun." Arielle stated recalling Vlad's words from their earliest missions together. "Consider it part of your punishment for lying to me. Again."

"Yes Arielle."

"We're back." Bing stated as he trans-matted Rose out of the ship, "can I come out now?" he asked.

"Yes." Rose nodded and Bing instantly bolted from her armour and hovered by her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Rose smiled, "That mission just, didn't really go according to plan." She said, "I'm hoping it doesn't happen again."

"Even if it does, you'll be better prepared." Vlad said and he and Sovereign came over, "Are you both alright?"

"Tired. But ok." Rose nodded. "And what do you mean better prepared?" she asked.

"Arielle has asked the Tech Witches to help with armour and Variks is working hard on new weapons for this, it's gonna take a while but once they have us measured up it'll only be a few hours, but by then we'll hopefully have found the Queen."

"They know where she is?" Rose asked.

"No, but Uldren is sure she is on that Dreadnaught, so we're going to go into the prisons, that is you, me and Orion." Vlad smiled.

Rose nodded, "Sounds like a plan." She said, "When are we getting measured up?"

"Now." Orion said, "Come on, the Coven Mother can be very scary when she's kept waiting."

"Should I stay outside?" Bing asked.

"No, you can stay with Rose." Vlad smiled as they reached the Tech witches chamber, finding Arielle talking with the Illyn while Orion was measured up by Nascia, his usual armour on a stand while Portia took few extra details.

The fact Orion was in a pair thin layer pants and a shirt while being measured made Vlad snigger slightly.

"Laugh it up Tinman, you're next." Orion said, though he did not turn his head to look at them. "Hi Rose." He added.

"Hi," Rose smiled. "How did finding the Prince go?"

"Very well, all things considers." Vlad smiled. "He isn't fatally injured and currently is getting his leg seen to by the healers."

"Lucky for him I need him to at least be able to walk if he wants to be useful." Arielle said, "Rose you can get measured behind the stand, Lissyl is waiting." She added nodding to the stands.

"Ok." Rose nodded.

Lissyl noted a few details about Rose's helmet while the Hunter removed her chest plate and gloves, there were marks on her hands and arms Lissyl recognized as injuries many Awoken suffered during their training to become members of the Queen's Personal Guard, though she noticed the lack of the Queen's mark, a tattoo of sorts that defined the Queen's personal Guard from others.

Rose had either failed her final exam or she had died before she had a chance to partake before becoming a Guardian.

Measuring Rose was rather easy, unlike many Awoken Guardians who were concerned about their scars or unnerved by the attire of the Witches, Rose seemed to be completely unaware she had any scars and she didn't flinch when the Witch's cold fingers would brush near or on the scars and her Ghost seemed more interested in the Amethysts that were gathered on the table nearby rather than asking questions about everything.

"Almost done." Lissyl said as she wrapped the length of tape around Rose's back and drew it taught around her waist before making a note. "You can dress again now."

"Thank you." Rose said as Lissyl left her alone.

"Hey Rose, don't put your cloak on, I have something that might fit you better." Arielle called.

"Something better?" Bing asked as Rose fastened her chest plate back into place. "Like a really long one with lots of pockets?"

"No, but it is one that will prove she's there as aid to the Queen." Arielle stated.

Rose smiled, "You mean besides the fact I'm going in there with Orion and Vlad to search for her?" she asked as she came out, pulling the gloves on and folding her old cloak up.

"Yes." Arielle smiled opening a small trunk and taking out a neatly folded pale purple cloth trimmed in gold. "This is the Cloak of the Sixth Reign. The mark of the Awoken as a people and of the Queen herself, very few were given during the Wolves betrayal as rewards for those who had aided in bringing the last of Skolas's Wolf Pack to heel."

"Still got mine back home," Vlad nodded as Rose put the new cloak on. "I spend so much time running around in the wilds I didn't want to ruin it."

"How is it so shiny when we are in dim light?" Bing asked hovering near the golden trim of the cloak.

Before Illyn could answer with the truth, Arielle raised a hand to stop her. "Ask Vakarian about Reef magic, he'll tell you how it works." Arielle smiled and Rose chuckled as her Ghost instantly shot towards Vakarian and began asking questions of Vakarian.

Vlad sniggered and Rose shook her head as the tan and blue Ghost gave a startled bleep and then tried to explain this apparent 'magic'. Arielle chuckled as Vakarian gave her a stern glare.

"That was mean." Orion said.

"It's the only fun I get until you bring Mara home." Arielle reminded, "Call me when you find her?" She asked.

"You will be the first to know." Orion promised, "Unless Uldren answers for you, then you will be the second." He said and ducked the playful slap.

"Come on lover boy. We have a Queen to find and a Dreadnaught to turn into a shooting gallery while we are at it." Vlad said lightly catching Orion's armour and pulling him away. "You can play kissy face with Arielle when we get back and the Queen's back on her throne."

"Come on Bing." Rose called and Bing hurried after her.

"So, where are we going to look?" Bing asked.

"We're going to head through the Mausoleum and the Founts and then on into the Asylum according to Petra's last report and all Uldren can give us, there is something beyond the Asylum but no one has been able to get past the Taken to investigate it." Orion said.

Variks stopped them at the doors. "As ordered by the Queen." He said and offered them each a neatly packaged bundle. "Variks works well, Taken and Hive will not stand against these."

"Nice." Orion smiled taking up a freshly finished Dreamwaker Rocket launcher.

"Oh I remember this beauty." Vlad said checking the clip in the Hand cannon he had been given, "Her Mercy?" he asked.

"The new Queen's personal choice of weapons for each of you." Variks nodded.

"I thought only the Guards of the Queen were allowed one of these." Rose admitted, admiring the sniper rifle she had been given.

"Arielle said you would like it." Petra smiled. "It's called 'Her Benevolence.' And if Variks has been working on it, then I can promise you it packs a punch." She added and Variks almost stood that little bit taller at the praise.

"So we're going in, killing everything and searching for the Queen." Rose smiled.

"Yep." Vlad said as they took off in their ships. "And when we have the Queen back on her throne we are going after Oryx."

"Where are you going?"

Arielle paused at her door. "I am going to meditate. If anyone needs me tell them it can wait." She told Illyn, "Uldren will stand at my door until I am done."

"Very well." The Coven Mother said as she left the corridor.

Uldren let out a breath he had been holding. "Are you sure this is wise?" he asked.

"Just keep to the plan." Arielle said before closing the door to her room and took a moment to let things grow quiet outside.

"Ready?" Vakarian asked.

"Get me out of here." Arielle said and Vakarian bounced in a nod, activating the Trans-mat link between Arielle and her ship.

They were gone before anyone noticed.

 _~ "Hello stranger." ~_ Orion chuckled over the comm as she caught up to them in jump space.

 _~ "Any trouble?" ~_ Vlad asked.

"Not so long as Uldren's at my door," She smiled. "Now let's get there and kick some Taken ass."

 _~ "What happens if we find a door we can't open on the way?" ~_ Orion asked.

 _~ "I have a very shiny crystal that works on all kinds of Hive doors." ~_ Rose reminded.

"Coming up on the Hull Breach of the Dreadnaught. Everyone ready?" Vakarian asked.

 _~ "Hell yes."~_ Orion smirked. _~ "Follow us through to the Founts Ari and from there, you can shoot the shit out of everything." ~_

"Good." Arielle said as they passed the breach and dropped into the fire fight between Cabal and Hive. Arielle resisted the urge to jump in and followed Orion, Vlad and Rose as they raced forwards, passing the fire fight and heading into what remained of the Mausoleum and front of the Cabal ship as they ran, only shooting the Hive that didn't move as they raced into the Founts and then on into the echoing chamber of the Asylum, jumping head first into the fury.

"Someone call for backup?" Orion asked with a laugh as he watched Arielle charge in alongside Rose.

"Shut up and shoot shit!" Lindor yelled back tossing her grenade into the Taken forces. "These bastards have been popping in at every chance they get! Until they are all dead we can't get the door open!" She added.

"Well we brought help." Vlad smiled as Arielle let lose her storm and Rose released three arrows making sure the Taken couldn't run away as Arielle blanked the area.

"Is that-?" Terrik began to ask.

"Don't tell the Reef." Orion said as they saw the door at the back opening. "Move it! The door's open!"

"Ogre!" Yelled Terrik as a hail of bullets peppered the Ogre driving it to the ground as Arielle, Rose and Zaragosa charged it, jumping its falling corpse as they went.

"This way!" Zaragosa yelled as Arielle looked around. "The last scout party got this far then dropped off the radar."

"Move it boys!" Lindor yelled as she and Orion rushed through the door, Vlad and Terrik covering them as they ran into the short corridor and kept the Taken at bay as they moved.

"Which way?" Arielle asked.

"Follow me," Lindor said leading the way, "Petra says we have to head deeper inside but this is as far as her scouts could get." She admitted bowing her head. "She's losing people faster that she can replace them in here so we-"

 _~ "I believe I know where Oryx has imprisoned the Queen." ~_ Eris stated over their comms. _~ "I am feeding an energy marker to your Ghosts, they will lead you to the one who is now the Queen's Jailer." ~_

"What do you know Eris?" Arielle asked.

 _~ "I have searched the Darkness and found a familiar beast, he was there when I went down into the Pitt with Eriana-3, Alak-Hul the Darkblade of the Hive. Fostered son of Oryx." ~_ She explained _~ "Find him and you will find the Queen." ~_

"We're close." Bing said, "just over that bridge and though the room beyond." He added.

"And past a lot of Taken and Hive while we are at it." Terrik said.

"Then let's make sure we kill everything that gets in our way." Arielle said cracking her knuckles.

"Amen to that." Rose nodded.

 _~ "Be careful Guardians, Alak-Hul is not going to just let you rescue the Queen he will fight to keep her locked away from the sun as he is." ~_

"Understood Eris." Arielle said as they reached a room filled with Taken and Hive Shriekers. "We don't have time for this."

"The door to the right is open." Rose said looking through her scope, "We could run it and jump the Taken Cabal to get past them. But I can't see anything beyond them."

"So we might run right into an Ogre." Orion said.

"Or more Taken." Vlad nodded. "Arielle?" he asked.

"I say we sneak it." Arielle said though she did not sound happy about it. "Vlad you, Zaragosa and Rose can make us invisible for a few seconds, it will give us time to get by the Shriekers and at least to the middle of the room, the second it wears off, we run for the door and pray for the best."

"Ready?" Vlad asked as the three Hunters took their smoke grenades out.

Arielle nodded and once everyone was together, the three tossed down the grenades and they moved as a group, heading towards the right of the room, keeping eyes on each other for the tell-tale sings the smoke was wearing off.

They got half way to the door before the smoke faded and the Taken saw them.

"Go!" Orion yelled and unloaded his rocket launcher into the Taken blocking the door way as they ran.

Terrik skidded passed the Taken, unloading his hand cannon into the closest ones as the others raced past them, turning back when they realised they were in the clear and shooting down the Taken Wizard that tried to strike them from behind.

Once the taken had stopped spawning Arielle searched the area. "What is this place?"

"The Hanging Crypts. According to the data Eris was able to give us on Hive Dreadnaughts." Vakarian said as he checked the marker again. "Like a prison."

 _~ "'Prison' is the wrong term. Oryx holds his victims, tortures them, then renders them down into chitin for his ship." ~_ Eris stated.

"Lovely." Sovereign said.

"Thrall." Bing stated second before Lindor and Zaragosa unloaded their rifles into the charging Thrall. "Dead Thrall."

"Yes Bing." Rose smiled, "Lots of Dead Thrall."

"According to the energy marker, Alak-Hul is just beyond this bridge and then, down in a very deep pit." Vakarian said. "And there's- oh my."

"What is it?" Arielle asked.

"I'm picking up an Awoken life signature in there too."

"The Queen." Rose said and before anyone could stop them, she, Arielle, Lindor and Orion were running down the bridge.

Illyn was watching him, she was always watching him.

He tried to ignore her, keeping his mind on his task to keep Arielle from being disturbed and also praying that somehow they found his sister before.

 _Stop that thought. That wasn't something I need to think about. Think about keeping Arielle from being disturbed. That's all you need to think about. They'll find Mara… they'll find her and bring her home._

"Prince Uldren?"

"What is it?" he asked the guard.

"News update from the Titan Orion's Ghost." She said as she handed him a data pad.

"Thank you." Uldren said, "The Queen is in meditation. I will hand it to her when she leaves." He assured.

"Yes sir."

"Whoa!" Lindor yelped before Orion yanked her back from the edge.

"Long way down." Orion said. "You ok?"

"Yeah." The Warlock nodded, looking down into the pit.

"The Queen is down there?" Rose asked as she looked for any sign of the Queen in the darkness below them. "We'll be searching blind."

"Not entirely." Arielle said Vakarian hovered from her helm and sent out a low but clear humming like sound. "What you got?"

"She's strung up," Vakarian said, showing Arielle the image he was getting back from his scanners. "She's alive, but barely."

"What does she need?"

"She needs air-ah!" Vakarian said then yelped as everyone jumped down into the pit, Zaragosa and Vlad landing over the pillars that held the Queen up while Rose and Arielle landed beneath her. "A warning would have been nice."

"Work fast!" Orion said hearing Hive start to move around them. Lindor and he taking up the front and back of the only area of light in the Cell with Terrik scanned for any Hive that dared to get too close.

The two Exos broke the Hive bonds holding the Queen, allowing her to fall limb into the waiting arms of Arielle while Rose ripped the cloak from her back and a spare breather from her belt and activated it for the Queen, placing the mask like device over the Queen's mouth and nose while lightly placing the strap that held the mask in place behind her head while Arielle wrapped the Queen in her cloak.

The Queen was pale, cold to the touch and her breathing was shallow, the heavy air of the cell had been slowly suffocating her of all life, leaving her weak, frail and looking far older than she was.

"Mara?" the Warlock asked, "Mara? Come on wake up." She pleaded trying to get some kind of response from the Queen.

"She's out of it," Rose said, "but alive." She added, sharing via comms the faint but audible heart beat from the Queen's chest.

"Movement." Vlad said and Orion put himself between the Queen and whatever was coming towards them from deeper in the Cell.

 _~ "Alak-Hul." ~_ Eris said. _~ "He stalks you." ~_

"Let him try." Arielle hissed as lightning danced over her body. "Rose?" she asked.

"I won't lose her again." Rose nodded, taking the Queen from Arielle as the Warlock stood and moved into the light.

"Nothing is getting near you to try and take her away." Orion stated focusing the void dome from his arms and around Rose and the Queen as heavy footfalls echoed around them.

For a moment there was silence.

Then the room became alive with movement and the Guardians opened fire on the Thrall that charged them from the darkness, only to be struck down by the twin storms Arielle and Lindor unleashed.

"Lindor behind you!" Zaragosa yelled in warning aiming his arrow before Lindor could react and firing past her at the huge form that had appeared there.

"Let him have it!" Terrik snarled unleashing his own storm into the Darkblade's chest, feeling the last two arrows shooting past him from Zaragosa before bullets flew past him and into the Darkblade's armour.

"We aren't hurting him!"

"Keep trying!" Orion snarled shouldering the rocket launcher and aiming for Alak-Hul's head. "Eat this!"

The rocket went right through the mist where the Darkblade had been.

"What?!"

"Shit!" Arielle cursed as her storm died out and she quickly gathered orbs to try and increase her energy again. "Where is he!?"

Rose held the Queen while searching the darkness beyond the slowly shrinking dome, "He's toying with us… he knows we have to get the Queen out." She said.

 _} "Wardens." {_

Rose looked down as she heard the soft voice, but realized that the Queen was still out of it. "What?"

 _} "Wardens… three Knights…" {_ The Queen tried to explain weakly, though her mouth did not mouth Rose heard her voice.

The she realized she was hearing the Queen's voice in her head. "Wardens!" Rose yelled, "There are three of them!"

"Shit!" Vlad yelled as a Huge Taken Hive Knight appeared before them, surrounded by a Solar shield as it attacked them.

"Stay with us Mara!" Arielle yelled opening fire on the Warden before them, "You hear me!? You damn well stay alive!"

The Queen was silent, but Rose could still hear her heart beating. "Well, this just turned into a bad idea." She hissed as the two other Knights showed up, one covered by a Void shield the other with an Arc shield.

"Ain't that always the way?" Lindor asked.

"Ideas?" Terrik asked.

"Get them close together!" Vlad snarled. "I can tether them with my arrows and give you time to triple strike them!" he added.

"Got it!" Arielle yelled.

"Move Rose! That dome's gonna go!" Orion yelled as he played a deadly game of chicken with the Taken Knight's fist.

Rose nodded and moved the Queen's arm over her shoulder. "Sorry Your Grace." She said quickly and half dragged the Queen to a fallen light near a wall of the Cell, the dull orange light giving her enough visibility to know their situation was bad.

She placed the Queen behind her, making sure she was blocking any boomer shots with her own body as she levelled Her Benevolence with the head of one of the Knights' heads seconds before Alak-Hul reappeared in front of her and the Queen.

"He's back!" She yelled squeezing the trigger to keep the huge beast away as the others assaulted the Knights.

"Rose cover the Queen!" Orion yelled and Rose ad a second to respond as he unloaded the rocket launcher into Alak-Hul's back the force of the blasts throwing small parts of dead Thrall and dirt everywhere.

Alak-Hul faded again with an echoing roar as one of the Knights fell. "This is taking too long." Arielle hissed moving to stand with Rose, helping to keep the Thrall away from the Queen.

"Then let's speed things up." Orion growled as Zaragosa snatched his golden Gun from the air, blasting the last of the Solar shield away as the Titan flung his hammers at the now unprotected knight.

"Good bye!" Vlad snarled firing three arrows at the Arc shielded Knight holding him in place while Lindor and Terrik forced their Supers into the Knight.

"Watch out!" Rose yelled as Alak-Hul charged Orion, bringing the huge axe down.

Orion winced as he rolled out of the axe's reach. "Shit he's fast." He said shooting at the beast with his shot gun. "Damn I wish we had our swords!" he snarled as Alak-Hul faded out again, the broken remains of his helmet on the floor a few feet from Arielle.

"Fuck the swords!" Vlad growled, "We have knifes," he said as Arc energy rippled over him, ready to attack Alak-Hul when he next showed his face.

"And Rockets." Lindor said heaving something that seemed to shine on to her shoulder. "Come on."

Arielle felt the storm inside her chest raging to get out, glancing back she saw the Queen starting to regain some colour and her eyes were fluttering weakly. They had to get her out of the Cell before the breather ran out of power. "We're running out of time." She hissed.

Everything seemed silent, unmoving and cold.

Rose forced herself to stay still, remembering the lessons her friends and mentor had taught her about sniping with a level head, not in the heat of the moment. Vlad scanned the darkness around them, looking for that tell-tale sign of something moving. Orion flexed his grip on his rocket launcher ready to fire at a moment's notice. Lindor, Terrik and Zaragoza stood ready.

Alak-Hul appeared inches from Rose and the Queen.

The Queen watched from her place behind Rose as the two Fire teams unloaded all they had into the Dark Blade's body, rockets, bullets, grenades, knives, hammers and all else they had with them until at last Alak-Hul let out a roar so as he began to fall towards them. The Queen felt Rose move her with great speed, shielding her from the fall as they rolled away, leaving them both covered in dirt and Hive muck.

Rose's ears were ringing loudly as she slowly moved her body, making sure she could still feel all of her limbs.

Alak-Hul's body lay scorched and riddled with holes a few feet from them, blown back by the force of the storm from Arielle and the many Rockets Rose had heard going off between bullets.

"You ok?" Vlad asked as he helped her to sit up, Arielle already checking the Queen.

"I think so." She said, "My ears feel like someone just sounded a fog horn in them."

"Mara?" Arielle asked as Lindor and Terrik set up a Trans-mat link for them to leave. "Come on, talk to me. Mara?"

 _} You. {_ The Queen stated, her eyes fluttering opening to show a dull but clear shine. _} Are meant to be. On the Reef. {_

"You can yell at me for that when you get better then I'm going to yell at you for sticking me with your damn cushion packed throne." Arielle said, "Until then, you don't see me and I don't see you."

The Queen almost smiled before she slipped back into a state of sleep, though this time she appeared calmer and relaxed.

"We're set, who gets to carry the Queen home." Terrik asked.

"Rose's ship would be better, the air filters are set for Awoken and handles the turbulence better." Arielle said as she helped Rose lift the Queen up. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"We'll see you back at the Reef." Orion smiled as they were trans-matted out of the Cell and to their ships, Arielle taking off before them as she had to be back and waiting for them before they arrived.

"Do you think the Prince will stop calling us all balls now?" Bing asked as Rose carefully set the Queen into the co-pilot seat of her ship.

"Maybe, at least for a little while." Rose nodded, "Now, get us to the Reef and hope that the Tech witches didn't catch Arielle out." She added as they followed Vlad and Orion into jump space.

Eris felt the small but firm tug at her mind and smiled. _} My Queen, {_ She greeted softly.

 _} You know your mission. {_

 _} Yes My Queen. {_

 _} Then I shall await the results of this plan. And listen as that beast is slain for his crimes. {_

Eris nodded. "I will not fail."

Uldren fell to his knees, clutching his chest tightly, suddenly covered in a cold sweat and shaking. The bond with his sister that had been forcibly closed by Mara was suddenly open again and everything had come flooding from his sister to him.

"Mara!?"

"Uldren?!" Petra yelled and skidded to a stop beside the prince. "Prince Uldren? What's wrong?"

"My sister." Uldren breathed softly. "My sister is…"

"Steady, you're burning up!" Petra said, "Variks take his place at the door. No one goes in there." She ordered and the old Vandal nodded as Petra and another royal guard helped the Prince to his feet and to his room.

Variks felt the eyes on him and unlike Uldren he met the Coven Mother's gaze and held it until at last the Coven Mother left the hall way.

Uldren might fear the Witches' wrath, but Variks did not. He had promised Arielle he would follow her orders and if that meant he had to stand at a door and keep others out, he would do it. He would rather do that then have the Queen's Wrath focused on him.

Arielle all but smashed the door into Variks's back as she bolted out of her room. "Uldren! Petra! Get the docks ready!" She yelled as the Coven Mother watched her with wide eyes, Variks staggering back to his feet.

"Arielle?" Petra asked in confusion as Arielle pulled a long thick robe from the back of her door. "What is it?"

"They found her." Arielle stated. "They're bringing her back right now!"

Petra would have cried had she not realized what that meant and opened her comm-link. "Clear the docks! The Queen is returning! Get the docking bays clear of people!"

"Arielle?" the Warlock looked around and found Uldren leant heavily on the door frame of his room. "My sister…?"

"She's coming home, Uldren." Arielle nodded as the Prince forced himself to stand tall. "She's coming home."

 _~ "Docks one to three are clear." ~_ Petra stated as they come in into the Outpost's docks.

"Thank you Petra." Vlad nodded flanking Rose's ship as she carefully and slowly let her ship dock, but rather than Trans-mat out of the ship, the main gangplank hissed and clicked open, lowering the ramp to the ground.

Arielle raced up the plank as Orion and Vlad Trans-matted down to the sides, waiting to escort the still weak Queen to the safety of her people as Arielle and Rose helped the Queen walked slowly down the plank, wrapped in the robe Arielle and brought with her to keep her warm as Petra and the Tech Witches arrived, quickly surrounding the Queen as they walked.

"Variks is keeping the crowds away until the Queen is ready to face them." Petra explained, as they lead the way to the Queen's privet chambers, Uldren opened the doors and stood to the side as they passed, staying outside with Orion and Vlad after Petra drew the huge curtains closed.

Bing and Vakarian fizzed outside and hovered quietly with Wrex and Sovereign. 

"What is the Reef's name did they do to her?" Uldren growled from the door, though he couldn't look inside the room, he could still feel his sister's injuries even as the Tech witches gently washed and soothed the pains away.

"Nothing she can't heal from." Illyn stated firmly, while using a warm damp cloth to gently clean the worse of the Queen's injuries, a deep gash to her right arm. "She needs time to recover, but she is in no state to address her people."

"But she's here." Arielle smiled, carefully picking out a clean and warm set of clothes. "And that means she's safe."

"Amen to that." Rose said helping bandage the gash on the Queen's arm.

"Does this mean Arielle isn't Queen anymore?" Bing asked. "Or does she have to wait for the Queen to say she can go?"

"I can leave now," Arielle said. "But I'm not going anywhere until she and I have had a few words."

"Then we go a fight Oryx?" Rose asked.

Arielle nodded. "Then we fight Oryx and send his ass back to whatever dark and cold place he came from." She said.

He was beyond furious, this seemingly insignificant little Light had once again proved to be more of a threat to him that he thought. He had lost his son to this speck and now his foster son.

This Light would suffer.

His generals could sense his anger and so many were staying away from him, hoping to avoid his punishment. All save one, the heavy steps of Thalnok, the unrelated twin of Crota was coming towards him, the deafening stab of his sword hitting the ground as he stopped and the heavy shift of armour plates as the huge Knight knelt.

He did not speak at first, unwilling to disturb his Master.

"Speak." He said firmly.

"We had captured a team of Guardians trying to open the gate ways between realms." Thalnok stated. "Two are already undoing the change, but their third is still fighting, using tricks twisted by the light and darkness."

He turned and looked at the Knight before him. "Explain." He demanded.

"Their light is tainted and they speak in Hive tongue, old chants from the days of old." Thalnok said. "The Deathsingers seek your approval in a plot they have for this Light."

He made a sound of thought and then lifted his sword from its place. "Show me." He commanded.

Thalnok nodded and stood, taking his sword up again and leading the King through a gate way to where the Deathsingers were hovering, pulling the burning light from their bodies and pushing dark light into the Guardians who had been captured, two of them already partly changed, their skins sheading to show the tell tail claws and faces of a Hive Knight and a Wizard. The third however was not, chanting in broken Hive tongue as they tried to cling to their light, Oryx could see the sickly shade of green that clung to the Guardian's body to show corruption.

"This one is strong." Ir Halak hissed softly. "But their light is not endless."

"You have a plan for this one." Oryx stated as Thalnok stayed by the gate way they had entered though.

"This light has touched one of those closes to the slayer of Crota." Ir Anûk told him, "This one would be perfect to bring discord to their harmony." She explained.

"Where is the shell?" Oryx asked.

"This one has none with them." Ir Yût hissed, "It has no light to revive it."

Oryx listened as the Deathsingers spoke and watched the tainted light fight their spells with its own, there was potential in their plot, but if it back fired he would lose nothing but a lowly Wizard for his troubles.

He had thousands more.

He nodded and with a sharp stab of his claw, the tainted light's spells came to a screaming halt.

Arielle sat with Mara in the Throne room. She'd cleared the room of the Witches, as Arielle was technically still Queen until Mara could deem herself fit. The Warlock didn't like the fact that Mara hadn't immediately made herself Queen again.

"I know you're angry." Mara stated softly, but her voice was still strong; it almost made Arielle smile, if she weren't so furious.

"Angry doesn't even begin to cover it Mara. You lied to me." Arielle accused, refusing to pull any punches with the still recovering Queen. The woman was alive, she could handle a few scathing words.

"I did not lie to you."

"A lie of omission is still a lie." Arielle growled.

Mara's blue eyes met the Stormcaller's yellow ones, "I never told you or omitted the fact that I had changed my mind. In fact, I never changed my decree, even once you left. There was no one else I would trust with the Reef. I didn't even bother to look because I already had the perfect candidate. I would name you Queen, and you would answer, not because you were my Sword, or had been, but because you love the Reef as I do. You would never allow the Reef or its people to be without a monarch; that would make the Awoken weak, and open to infighting and attack. You would never allow others to suffer for my selfishness; or yours."

Lightning danced up the Warlock's arms, but she said nothing. Instead she held Mara's gaze out of anger, but willpower and stubbornness as well. Mara was honest; Arielle knew that to be true. She also knew that every word was what the Queen truly believed, and Arielle reluctantly admitted to herself that Mara was right.

She never would've left the Reef without a Queen. There was no one more suitable to be Queen than Mara, but Arielle knew-deep down in a place she enjoyed ignoring-that she was suitable. A Queendom was not what she wanted, but Arielle knew that she had the experience and the character to succeed; she simply lacked the drive.

Finally, the Warlock sighed, "I hate when you're right."

Mara's eyes softened, "I know. You were always the right choice. You could've married your Titan and the Witches would not have been able to argue."

Arielle looked up in shock, "What?"

Mara pressed a secret compartment and something on the throne opened and Mara pulled a scroll, the second one Arielle had seen in the Queen's throne room in a while.

"Where are you getting these old scrolls from?" The Warlock demanded, "Is this what Variks is doing when he's not watching the prison?"

"You aren't as funny as you think." The Queen replied as she handed Arielle the scroll.

The Stormcaller took the scroll and immediately unrolled it and read it aloud, "By decree of Queen Mara Sov of the Awoken, I hereby declare Arielle the Stormcaller to be Arielle Sov, sister to Mara and Uldren Sov."

Arielle gaped at the scroll; this was unheard of. Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them away and continued reading, "Arielle Sov shall be Queen of the Reef should anything happen to me. I legitimize any heiress she bears as a member of my own blood, and under no circumstances is she to be married off to Uldren, whom is now her brother, and anyone who tries to challenge my ruling will face the wrath of Queen Arielle Sov, whom is as worthy to bear the title of Queen as myself."

It was only the feeling of Mara's gaze leaving Arielle that made the Warlock look up. Her vision blurred by unshed tears, "Why? This has never been done before."

Mara's eyes were clear, and Arielle could read all the love that her Queen carried within her as she spoke, "Had I never returned, that scroll was to make its way to you, declaring you my sister and the next Queen. You came to us without a name, Ari, and I decided to give you mine, to tie you to the Reef even if you never returned. You would be Arielle Sov to me and to Uldren- the entire Reef would acknowledge your place as my Sword and my sister. I gave you the name you always had; you were always my sister."

Arielle didn't know what to say and she did the one thing she's never done as long as she's known Mara Sov; she hugged her. Gently of course, mindful of her Queen's injuries, "Every time I think I have you figured out, Mara, you manage to prove me wrong."

The younger Awoken stepped back and Mara offered her a wicked grin, "The job of a Queen is not to show others what she is thinking, something you and I are very good at."

"Did Uldren know?" Arielle asked.

"I informed him of the location of the scroll, and if he did not return, it would be up to Variks to give it to you. After you left, I secretly hoped that you would return, despite all that I knew of you, and you and Uldren would pick up where you left off. Then came the rumors of your romance with your Titan, Orion. I did not pay them any mind. You would return. It was Eris that alerted me to your happiness, and I could not deny that. I allowed myself to let go of my foolish hope. When you returned and took up the mantle of my Sword once more, I knew that you hadn't changed at all. You were still the woman I trusted, the sister I adored, even if I never told you. When you left that day, I wrote that. I informed Uldren of its contents before we left for the Dreadnaught. He needed to know so that he would not be guilty should the Witches attempt to force your union."

"How did he take it?" Arielle asked softly.

"I was relieved." Uldren stated as he quietly entered the room. He bowed his head to Mara but then met Arielle's gaze. "You left us behind, and that was our own fault. I missed you at my side, and when you returned, Ari, you were right that I had to figure out how I loved you. I worry about you as much as I worry about Mara, and I do love you still, but the way I love Mara. You deserve all the happiness in the world, Ari."

She smiled, "When did you become so wise?"

The Prince smirked, "As if you really need to ask."

The Warlock grinned, "I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Ego isn't a good look on you Arielle."

"No, you clearly wear it far too well already, Uldren, there really isn't enough for anyone else."

Mara sat back in her throne and watched Arielle and Uldren bicker back and forth. This is how they had been before. She would never admit to anyone that when her strength had run out, when she felt like giving in, this is what she remembered. She loved the Reef and her people, they were hers to protect, and knowing that Arielle would rule made accepting death easier; but this is what kept her going. Uldren and Ari were more than the Sword and Shield to Mara; they were the only family she really had.

"Summon the Witches." Mara ordered, interrupting Uldren and Ari's conversation. "I will take my position as Queen once more, unless you'd like to keep it, Arielle Sov?"

Mara watched as her Sword bowed, "Of course not, Your Grace. The Throne is yours once more; I humbly take my position as your Sword, if it pleases you."

"It does." Mara replied in her regal tone.

"I shall summon the Witches." Uldren replied as he walked out of the throne room.

"Take your time, Uldren. Arielle, bring me Rose."

Arielle nodded, though she didn't have to go far to find Rose, the Hunter was sat near Petra's stand, cleaning Bing's shell while the Ghost listened to another story about the old days of the Reef, asking now and then about the place Petra had grown up and about the sword the Queen had used against the Wolves.

Eventually, Arielle and Rose left the Queen's chamber, both looking worn down and drained, but given that they had been in meditation with the Witches to insure the Queen's mental state was unaffected by her time in the Cell, it was understandable.

Rose had caught the smallest snippets of a mental conversation while in meditation, but had not dwelled on it, whatever the Queen and Arielle had been talking about was not her business. Though judging by the fainted of smiles on the Queen's lips when they'd left it had ended well.

"Time for a nap," Arielle said, "And then we go deal with the Taken King and his hoard." She added with a yawn.

"Sounds like a plan." Orion smiled, "And now that the Queen is safely back on her throne, we can fight this battle at full strength."

"I hear that." Vlad smiled, "much as I love Lindor and Terrik like family, Oryx is not something I want to take them into without you Arielle."

"They are capable." Arielle said.

"True, but they aren't as skilled as you." Orion said. "Let's get some rest and talk about this when we are rested." He added, leading the way to their rooms. "After all we have been through, we are going to need all out strength for this fight."

Ikora would never admit to having favourites.

Not because she didn't have them, and not because she knew the other Vanguards didn't have their favourites. No Ikora wouldn't admit to it because she knew that there would could a made when those Guardians died and she would lose them forever.

The news would hurt all of them, but it would always hurt more when those she considered her favourites were the ones reported dead.

But there were also those who the Vanguard wanted to suffer, those few Guardians who were so cruel and so cold to others and to their Ghosts that the Traveler allowed the Ghosts to leave the cruel Guardian and find a new Guardian.

Modern day Warlords, Lord Saladin called them and the name stuck.

So when Ikora felt that smallest tug at her light that meant a warlock had died, she paused and glanced to Wiccan who began a full search over the cannels of her warlocks, finding all but two.

"Warlords. Warlock Emma, Sunslinger class, teamed with Titan Cross-29, Striker class and with, I will not speak her name." Wiccan said in a sudden growl.

"Vlad's ex?" Ikora asked and Wiccan bounced in a nod.

"All dead." The Ghost stated.

"What are you looking for?" a voice asked.

"I had a thought, not a nice one a while back, when Rose's world began to imprint on our own. I wish to be sure of my thoughts and doubts before I speak with her and the others." Ikora said.

"You fear she will disappear?" Ikora gave a grim nod.

"We have seen that removing Omnigul removed the courted Vex from this world, and stopped the two worlds over lapping. But what is to stop something similar happening to Rose if Oryx is removed."

"What have you found so far?"

"Nothing that is good, Eris." Ikora sighed, showing Eris the work she had been doing and the results her calculations. "According to all I have read and all I know of the Vex and their technology. When Oryx is defeated and sent from this world back to his own." Ikora shook her head.

"Rose will disappear with him."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter eleven.

King's Fall.

Rose took a moment to properly dry herself off from the hot shower before dressing, hearing Bing talking with Sovereign.

"Is it normal to feel jumpy before this kind of mission?" She asked Vlad, knowing he was cleaning Thorn in the other room.

"Sometimes, no one has ever faced this kind of thing before so you are going in to this mission as blind as we are." The Exo stated, "Though going in as a four would be hard, so I think Arielle and Orion called in a favour."

"So there will be six of us going in to this?" Rose asked as she began to pull a brush through her hair.

"Yep, us and two old friends," he said, just before someone knocked on their door, "Its open."

"Morning." Arielle said as she and Orion came in. "Got through to Kai, he's on his way to the Dreadnaught and will meet us there, but we haven't got a sixth yet."

"I'll call on a favour." Vlad said, "Saix owes me for saving his ass last year."

"Saix as in Lord Saix? Isn't he running with the Iron Wolves now?" Orion asked.

"He can spare a few hours to repay a debt, unless he wants Cayde on his ass for not paying back favours." Vlad chuckled. "Plus, word is he's been chasing Anna Lee for the last two years so if he wants to win points with her he has to repay his debts."

"Who?" Rose asked.

"Anna Lee is one of Ikora's students, a wiz on computers, a good card player and a killer aim with that Multi-tool of hers." Orion explained, "She's a sweet kid, but never get her angry. I've seen her go toe to toe with Arielle and they almost match each other for strength and stubbornness when it comes to hand to hand."

"Really?" Rose asked.

"Yes, but she's still young and has a ways to grow." Arielle smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Almost," Rose nodded coming out of the shower room, pulling on her boots. "Now I'm ready."

"Then we'll go, I'll have Saix meet us there." Vlad said.

"We have to tell them." Ikora said.

"If we tell them now we might lose our only chance to end the Taken threat." Zavala said.

"Are you sure that it will happen?" Cayde asked, "I know you have rarely been wrong Ikora but this," he said looking over everything Ikora had shared with them. "She's been here so long, connected to our Traveler, can we really say that killing Oryx will result in Rose disappearing like the Vex corruption did?"

"All my research and the logic says yes." Ikora said, "I have run the numbers and looked over everything we know and everything tells me that Rose isn't going to be here when this is over."

"But are we positive?" Zavala asked.

Ikora shook her head. "I have no solid proof." She said.

"Then until we are sure, until we have solid proof, we cannot just tell them that doing this would make Rose disappear." Zavala said.

Reaching the Dreadnaught went without any trouble, they handed on the trans-mat zone, just in time to watch a large Ogre fall to the ground as more Cabal reinforcements landed and Hive swarmed from the depths of the ship.

"Come on fuckers!" A voice bellowed as a string of light shot around them.

They turned slightly and spotted a hunter in gray and black armour, all made from Iron and steel from what Rose could see, his back covered by the Devil's cloak she'd seen Variks selling as he charged in, beams of light shooting from his weapon and scattering as he seemed to shoot around corners to take down Cabal and Hive.

"Damn it Saix, you're a damn fool!" Another voice yelled, a Titan who was crouched taking shots at the Cabal at the back of the room. Two Ghosts floating near the Titan, one of them was black and red and floated up and landed heavily in Arielle's hands.

"He's been at this since we got here." The Ghost said, "He won't listen to a word I tell him."

"No worried Bahamut," Arielle assured, "We'll grab his attention and get him up here, then we're going after Oryx."

"How?" the Ghost asked.

Orion smiled and stepped to the side as Vlad levelled Thorn at the other Hunter. "Bang-bang."

"YIKES!" The other Hunter yelped and turned towards where the shot had come from and froze, "Oh, Hi Vlad."

"Get your ass up here and let's go." Arielle called down, "We got a King to dethrone."

"Right, I'm coming!"

"That's Saix?" Rose asked.

" _Lord_ Saix." Orion said, "He's one of the Iron Wolves, Lord Saladin's best group of students, they do what he says and are leading the fight against this generation of Warlords. Thought most don't bother with the 'Lord' Title unless we are on the field with rookies to scare them."

"Wow." Rose said.

"Rose this is Saix-9 and Kai, boys this is Rose," Orion said as a quick introduction. "Be nice." He added with a light jab at Kai.

"Let's get this done with." Arielle said. "Eris says we need to head to the Court and go from there."

They moved through the Dreadnaught shooting down Taken and Hive easily as they reached the court area, covered in a mist like veil.

"How do we get past that?" Kai asked as his ghost floated down and scanned the mists.

"Poison, so we aren't running it." The Ghosts said.

"Anyone else feel like we are being watched?" Orion asked.

"Yes." Came the chorused answer before the gate way in the Court opened and a Taken Wizard flew out of it and charged them, firing powerful blasts of Arc, Sol and Void at them.

"Fuck!" Kai yelped and rolled to one side.

"This is new!" Orion stated as Taken Hive began to swarm them. "Back to back!" he stated as he and Arielle teamed up, shooting down the hall way towards a large group of Taken Knights.

"Shit!" Saix yelped as he and Kai stood together, shooting everything that got close to them.

The Wizard hissed and screamed, focusing its fire on Vlad and Rose, both of whom were pinned behind a Thrall statue of some kind while trying to get a shot off at the Wizard.

"Eris calling." Bing said shortly before Eris's voice filled the comms.

 _~ "That Wizard is not Hive." ~_

"It's Taken!" Arielle said, "Tell us something we don't know."

 _~ "No she means it wasn't Hive to start with." ~_ Cayde says, _~ "It's a Warlord!" ~_

"Anyone I know?" Saix asked.

 _~ "Vlad knows her." ~_ Cayde stated. _~ "She's-" ~_

"Dying." Vlad snarled and abandoned his cover and unloaded Thorn into the Wizard.

"He's pissed." Kai said taking down a Taken Knight.

"Who was she?" Rose asked.

"Remember I told you about a time Vlad might start cursing?" Orion asked. "She was the reason for that."

"What did she do?" Rose asked.

"She betrayed us," Arielle said, "We'd gone on a mission to the Moon, split up to cover more ground and when she couldn't turn Vlad against the Speaker like she wanted, she shot him and left him for Thrall food. Didn't help that she'd been his girlfriend. Later we found out she had locked her Ghost in a box back at the Tower."

"That's Awful!" Rose said.

"It's why we all made sure if we ever saw her again she'd be dead." Orion said. "She betrayed all of us and the things her Ghost told us she'd done were just as bad, since then Vlad's been out for blood."

"Me thinks he's getting it." Kai yelled taking the last of the Taken Knights down. "That's nine clips he just put into her!"

 _~ "Ten." ~_ Sovereign stated. _~ "The poison is seeping away." ~_

"Focus on that Wizard." Arielle hissed as they all turned to fire on eth Wizard, though it seemed Vlad had done most of the work needed to end the Taken Wizard's short life under Oryx, granted it was not painless.

Just as Rose reloaded her rifle the Wizard let out an ear splitting scream and the room was flooded with Shadowy Thrall. Saix and Kai moved first, Saix cutting into the Thrall while Blade dancing and Kai swinging his hammers around with almost as much aim as Orion as Rose hit the Wizard with her arrows.

"Vlad back up!" Orion yelled as Rose grabbed the Exo's cloak and yanked him out of the way as Arielle unleashed her storm and forced most of the energy into the Taken Wizard with Orion's hammers.

"Fuck! Shit this hurts!" Kai yelled duking into cover with rose, clutching his shoulder. "Shit, shit, shit." He hissed as Rose opened fire on the Knight trying to carpet them with fire.

"Heartless _WHORE_!" Vlad snarled and snatched his own knifes from the air and charged right back into the fight, cursing so much Bing switched off his audios to drown it out.

"He's really mad." The Ghost stated.

Rose nodded but said nothing as she unloaded her rifle into the Wizard from cover seconds before the Wizard fled into the suddenly open portal in the centre of the court, the Knight following seconds later.

"Coward!" Vlad snarled making to follow the Wizard before Orion and Saix grabbed him. "Let go of me!"

"Calm. Down." Arielle hissed "She'll get her dues, but we have other issues right now." She added nodding to Kai as his Ghost took the moment of peace to scan and heal the burn to his shoulder and fix the armour.

"If Oryx managed to take her and her team, we could well be facing a few more surprises, we need to go on with care." Saix said, "We've got one shot at this, and we're the only ones with the way in." he added.

Vlad growled but said nothing as they gathered what they could to convert to ammo for later and gather their bearings before as a group they passed through the portal.

"Rose will disappear?" the Queen asked.

 _~ "That is what Ikora's research predicts. But we are not completely sure of it." ~_ Eris explained, _~ "You have shared minds with her, perhaps you noticed something that may keep her with us when Oryx is defeated?" ~_

The Queen was silent, even in her weakened state she had been able to freely wonder the Hunter's mind without any sign of being detected and while she had found many memories of the Hunter's past before she came to them, she had found nothing that might tie her to the Traveler of her time or their own.

"I have not." She said.

Eris's voice betrayed the regret she felt. _~ "I shall inform The Vanguard that we might indeed lose Rose. Thank you, My Queen." ~_

Saix caught Vlad's arm as they made the last jump from the multiple Hive ships coming back and forth in the Dreadnaught, Orion and Kai keeping an eye out for any Hive or Taken that might attack while Rose and Arielle continued to wait for the last ship to carry them through to them.

"Damn that was a pain in the ass." Arielle said as they at last reached the end and jumped down to the solid ground again.

 _~ "You're gonna love this." ~_ Vlad said from ahead of them. _~ "Hive and that Knight we were fighting before. No sign of the Wizard though." ~_

"If that Wizard is that traitor, then that Knight must be Cross-29." Saix stated. "He's been on my hunt list for the attack and mass murder of twenty civilian families."

"Then where is Emma?" Arielle asked as they joined up watching the Knight pace back and forth while the Hive prayed to another open portal.

"No idea and really I don't care." Saix said. "Cross and that whore are bad enough."

"They all die." Kai said, "Lord Saladin wants all the Warlord dead for their crimes, no matter how it happens."

"That was a given." Arielle said. "Gun's blazing?" she asked.

"No, too many," Orion said, "Rose, you and Saix stay up here, Kai you and Vlad go right, me and Arielle will go left. When I give the signal, focus the Knight and then take out the little fuckers."

"If you have your arrows Rose, try and get the Knight and the Hive at the back, we'll do the rest." Saix said patting the side of his sniper rifle. "Black Spindle has a few words to have with that Knight."

"Got it." Rose nodded and waited for the signal from Orion.

When a flaming Hammer flew through the air, Rose released her arrows and then unloaded her rifle into the smaller Hive as Saix fired at the Knight.

"Watch out!" Arielle yelled suddenly as something cold and sharp grabbed Rose from behind and heaved her up. "Rose?!"

"Get off me!" Rose snarled and stabbed her dagger into the Arm holding her dropped to the ground and rolling before the burst of poison could strike her. "Why is everyone after me?" She asked, ducking for cover and firing back, taking down the Wizard with a head shot.

"Because you're the one that killed Crota." Saix suggested. "Or they just really hate Hunters." He added ducking for cover as the Knight got free of the Void tether from Rose and charged them.

"More Hive coming in!" Orion yelled.

 _~ "Vanguard calling." ~_ Vakarian stated.

"We're busy. Tell 'em to wait." Arielle yelled over the gunfire.

 _~ "They say it's urgent." ~_ Wrex said.

"It can wait!" Orion yelled.

 _~ "Ok." ~_

"Shit these fuckers just keep coming!" Kai yelled jumping back with Vlad as they tossed down their grenades.

"Watch your fire! We're running low!" Orion yelled.

"This is bad." Rose winced ducking for cover.

He watched them carefully, making sure to keep his eye on the bright light who slayed his son.

It was getting brighter the more of his Hive and Taken it killed, but it was also starting to show signs of fading from the edges of its reach, like a worn and old light was starting to die out, unlike the other lights around it, that showed little signs of age at all.

Strange.

It was as if this Light was somehow connected to an older source of Light and was only borrowing the Light of those around it.

"Ir Halak. Ir Anûk." He said and the two looked to him. "Go, prepare for their arrival. Ir Yût. Fetch me that shard you have been keeping."

"Yes Sire." The three stated as they floated off, Ir Yût returning moments later with the tainted shard of the Traveler his Son had managed to corrupt before they gained control of the Vex technology.

Oryx took the shard and looked back to the Light, watching as the shard that had been slowly draining of pure light for so long, seemed to gain a slight glow to it before the Light he had been watching grew brighter.

"This Light is connected to the world we left?" Ir Yût asked. "How is that possible? Everything was destroyed by the insect race."

"It does not matter." He smirked, "This Light is the last of its kin, and the only way for the light of this shard to save itself." He stated and stabbed a sharp claw into the glowing shard.

Rose screamed as something burned from deep inside her, pain racing through her light, her gun clattering to the floor as she clutched her chest.

"Rose?!" Arielle yelled in worry. "Rose what's happening?!"

"What the hell is going on up there!?" Orion demanded. "Saix?"

"I don't know! She's not been hit!" Saix yelled back.

Vlad fired Thorn at the Hive trying to grab at Rose while she was down before throwing down a smoke grenade to buy them some time. "Rose? Rose talk to me, what's wrong?"

"It's the Traveler!" Bing said and much to everyone's shock he sounded in just as much pain as Rose. "Our Traveler! It's here! It's hurting!"

"Where!?" Arielle demanded, "How do we make it stop?"

 _} Pathetic Light! You cannot save your friend! {_ A chilling voice mocked as Rose screamed again, enough for Bing to force himself out of her armour and try to cure her pain with the light form his shell. _} What Crota Began, I will finish! {_

"Damn it!" Vlad hissed looking around the room, noticing there were no more Hive pouring from the doorways. "Arielle take out these Hive!"

"Gladly!" the Warlock growled and unleashed her storm once more, cutting down the last of the Hive before she and the others scrambled to where Rose was staring to regain her footing, only to stagger again and fall, panting heavily and shaking violently.

"Sovereign, contact the Vanguard." Vlad commanded.

 _~ "Yes Vlad." ~_

 _~ "About time, we need to tell you-" ~_ Cayde-6 began.

"Later! Rose is hurt, her Traveler is somehow still connected to her and Oryx is using it to hurt her!" Vlad yelled cutting the Vanguard off.

 _~ "Use your Ghosts' Light to sooth her." ~_ Eris stated. _~ "It will only help for a time, but when it wears off the pain will return, you must do this quickly." ~_

"How do we stop it happening again?" Arielle asked, kneeling beside Rose and carefully lifting Bing from the floor where he had fallen, his shell shaking and trembling in her palm.

 _~ "We cannot do anything about that." ~_ Ikora said. _~ "It is what we've been trying to contact you about." ~_

"What do you mean?" Rose asked as the Ghosts bathed her in their light, at last chasing away the sudden pains. "What's happening?"

 _~ "Rose. You aren't connected to our Traveler, your using borrowed light to survive." ~_ Ikora explained, sounding grim and defeated, _~ "The Vex technology didn't remove you fully from your world, it only misplaced your body. Your light is still tied to your Traveler and thus, your world. The pain you felt will only going to get worse until you…" ~_

"Until I what?" Rose asked, slowly getting to her feet again. "Tell me."

Eris spoke up, though she sounded just as grim as Ikora. _~ "Ikora has found evidence that Oryx still hold the technology Crota and the Fallen used to come here after you and all her research has shown that when Oryx is defeated, he and his Dreadnaught will disappear from this time. And so will everything that came with him, his Hive, the Fallen, the Tia Ravens and you." ~_

"We… we'll disappear?" Bing asked sounding scared and shocked as his shell began to slowly stop shaking and regain the ability to float.

"How can that be? We've been here so long, grown so strong on this worlds light and- no, that can't be right. There has to be a mistake somewhere." Rose said.

 _~ "It is the conclusion to all of my research and study," ~_ Ikora said. _~ "I have searched the scrolls, data pads, books and writings for another answer, a way to keep you here when this is over, but I cannot find any other conclusion." ~_ She explained. _~ "I'm sor-" ~_

"What about the Speaker? Master Rahool? Master Ives? The Tech Witches?" Arielle yelled in anger. "Someone has to know a way to stop that happening! Rose can't just disappear! She can't go back to her own time! There's nothing there! We saw it all destroyed!"

 _~ "We are still searching." ~_ Eris said, _~ "But it would have been cruel of us to let you continue this mission without knowing what will happen." ~_

"Should we go back?" Saix asked after the comms shut off.

"No." Rose said much to everyone's surprise, "We came here to stop Oryx doing to this world what was done to mine. We can't just leave now." She went on.

"But you'll-"

"I watched my world and friends without me, if we don't stop Oryx now, the same thing will happen again here." Rose said cutting Orion off. "Eris said they were still searching, maybe they'll figure it out, or maybe Ikora's mistaken." She added.

For a time there was silence and then Arielle spoke up. "Are you sure you want to keep going? Knowing that you might not still be here in the end?"

Rose nodded.

"Then you'll need a new gun." The warlock said picking up the now broken rifle Rose had been using.

"Here." Vlad said taking out a silver barrelled Hand Cannon with feathers etched in the side. "The Hawkmoon. My lucky charm when Thorn is in the shop." He explained.

"Thanks." Rose smiled and after a moment to make sure she was able to walk without falling over they moved through to the next room.

Ikora searched over everything she had found for what felt like the millionth time, Lindor and Eris beside her as they helped search and check everything, searching for something, some kind of way to keep Rose with them.

She could hear a soft sound from Eris and knew the tainted Hunter had a comm channel open to the Reef where the Queen had ordered the Witches to search for something to help keep Rose in their world.

It seemed however that such a thing did not exist.

Still Ikora looked, searching over and over for some kind of solution to their trouble.

Someone placed a hot coffee next to her as Terrik and another Warlock, dressed in blue and black handed Lindor a hot coco drink. "Where haven't we looked yet?" The Warlock asked, placing down several old books and a half dozen scrolls she'd brought with her.

"We haven't touched the back of the library yet," Lindor said and the other female Warlock nodded. "Saix brief you?"

"Said Vlad's girlfriend was in some trouble and if I didn't find a way of stopping her from fading, Vlad, Arielle and Orion wouldn't be in the best of moods for a long time." She nodded. "So here I am and I brought everything I could from the Iron Wolves library, maybe we'll find something in there."

"Thank you Anna Lee." Ikora nodded, downing her drink in one long pull as Terrik headed to the back of the Library to aid their search for answers while Anna Lee opened the books she had brought with her.

It was a nice thought, that maybe with them all looking, they'd find a way to keep Rose with them, but deep down, Ikora still doubted it.

Then a thought struck her. "Maybe," She began and then bolted from the Library and raced up the stairs so fast she made a nearby frame fall over.

"Shit this guy just doesn't want to go down!" Kai yelled tossing hammer after hammer at the War Priest while Vlad released arrows to keep the priest from moving too much, Orion's hammers also bombarding the War Priest and Saix's Golden Gun while Rose and Arielle were clearing out Acolytes and Taken around them.

"You ok Rose?" Arielle asked.

"I can still feel pain but it's not as bad." Rose admitted, gritting her teeth as she shot a taken Knight in the head.

"We'll get you through this," the Warlock assured, trying to sound like she was certain of that statement.

"Thanks." Rose said with a weak smile as the War Priest roared and the room flooded with light. "Shit!"

"Hide!" Orion yelled as they sheltered from the light in the shadow of the last pillar feeling the energy in the room shatter it behind them. "He's almost dead. You got arrows Rose?" he asked.

"Almost." Rose nodded.

"Good, when you have them, yell and we'll hit this fucker with everything." Orion nodded.

"Got it."

The War Priest snarled and bellowed in Hive, cursing the Lights as they scattered again and avoided his shots while taking down more of the Hive around him.

"NOW!" Rose yelled as her arrows cut through the air and struck the War Priest in the head, torso and stomach.

"Let him have it!" Orion bellowed as they all focused their fire on the huge form, rockets and sniper bullets flying with little pause between them as the War Priest staggered and fell with an almighty roar.

"Rose?" Vlad asked as Rose clutched her chest again.

"I'm alright." She hissed. "We need to keep going."

"Son of a bitch is still hurting her." Kai said, "Could our Ghosts sooth her again?"

"No, bringing them out just makes them a target and they need their light to revive you if something happens." Rose said, "I'll be ok. It's not so bad anymore."

"Are you sure?" Orion asked.

"Yes." Rose nodded though Orion doubted it, her voice was strained and her body was stiff. She was in pain a lot of pain, but she was trying to hide it, likely the helmet made that easier, but it didn't make the pain in her voice.

"Alright." Orion said, "We keep going."

"Foolish Light." Oryx chuckled. "Release Golgoroth and see to it he is angry." He ordered, and Thalnok bowed, leaving the chamber.

Oryx then turned to Ir Yût. "Infect the Light's mind. If we cannot break it with physical pain, let us see how far her mentality holds."

"Yes Sire." Ir Yût bowed and focused on the Light that had slayed Crota.

 _} "I think not." {_ A voice stated as Ir Yût was thrown back into the wall with such force Oryx heard and felt the impact himself. _} "You will not torment her or any others so long as I live." {_

Oryx clenched his fists as a burning purple shimmer suddenly surrounded the Lights that travelled in his realm. "You shall suffer for this."

 _} "Not as much as you will suffer when they reach you." {_

Variks stood before the Queen's throne room doors staff in hand and surrounded by Guards, Hunters and Titans, Warlocks were in the Library, searching for answers while the Witches, the Queen, her brother and those few the Queen knew were of strong mind and will, meditated, forming an impenetrable wall between the Hive Minds and the Minds of the Guardians on the Dreadnaught.

The Queen knew it would become a strain the longer they held the wall, their mental will was strong together, but only as strong as their weakest member, but if it kept Oryx and his wickedness away from the minds of her Sister and her friends, she would hold the wall and she would keep Oryx away for as long as she could.

She wouldn't allow this Beast to torment the mind of the Hunter who had already given so much and she wouldn't allow this Beast destroy the happiness Arielle had found.

If this was the way she aided her sister, unseen and unheard from the shadows by all but those who were of keen mind, then so be it.

Arielle paused a moment then smiled, sending a silent 'thank you' to the Queen as they continued, slowly picking their way around the darkness of some kind of maze, hearing a terrible thundering pounding ahead of them that could only be an Ogre.

That was proved when they left the Maze and came to a large door way where the dead bodies of Hive laid slain and partly devoured. "I think we found Phogoth's big brother." Orion said, "bigger, nastier and a shit tone uglier." He added as they huddles around eth door, hiding from the huge beast's gaze as it roared and snarled, searching the dead hive for something.

Rose landed against the wall, struggling to breath for a moment while rubbing her chest where the pain persisted. "Ideas?" she asked.

"He looks like Phogoth, so I'm guessing he'll go down the same way." Orion said.

"He's also got venom and a stronger eye beam." Vlad said looking at his cards from Eris. "Name's Golgoroth and his weak spot closes up if we don't hold is attention long enough." He added.

"Anyway to speed this up?" Saix added, "Because I don't think she's part of the deal." He added pointing out the Taken Wizard in the back of the room.

Vlad growled but stopped when Rose slid to the ground trembling despite her best efforts to stand up again, Bing falling from her armour into her hands trembling and twitching in his own pain.

"They can't take much more of this." Arielle said as Vakarian opened his shell and bathed to two in his own light. "All of you, switch to your Arc abilities and train your Ghosts on me." She said.

"No, Ari that'll over charge you, you burn yourself out." Saix stated, "I've seen how bad that can be."

"I'm older and stronger that Anna Lee," Arielle reminded, "I can handle more, enough to bring down that monster and give that bitch a few more burns to worry about." She added looking at Rose, "We need to hurry or we'll lose her."

"Are you sure you can handle four Arc inputs?" Orion asked.

"I handled the storm at its strongest. I can handle this." Arielle nodded adjusting her gantlets. "And it is going to work." She assured as lightning danced around her arms and then her whole body as the Ghosts focused their Guardian's energy into her.

"Getting attention." Saix nodded slipping away using his smoke grenade to move unseen for a time.

Rose didn't hear a lot of the sounds after that, she clutched Bing close to her chest, keeping him hidden from Oryx's gaze, she knew he had to be watching, how else could he have known they were there? He was watching all of them and she refused to let him take away her Ghost as he had done so many other Ghosts.

"Bing." She hissed softly. "S-sto-ah! Oh! Stop trying to-to sooth me. It-it's only going- ah! Going to make you-oh! Hurt more."

"You're hurting." Bing stated. "I'm not going to stop, not until you get better."

"I can handle it." Rose tried to lie. "Please. You don't-ah! Have to go through this with me."

"It's what Ghosts do." Bing said stubbornly. "I'm not stopping." He added.

Rose smiled and clutched her Ghost closer as she heard Orion snarl in anger and bullets shoot from their guns, she lightly pushed Bing back into her armour, keeping his safe and hidden from the violence as she always had.

Arielle unleashed everything she had been gathering own her arms with an all mighty challenging cry, focusing everything into the pulsating light on Golgoroth's chest, while Vlad unloaded his weapon into the Taken Wizard as it tried to charge Arielle, though he stayed close to Rose, knowing she wasn't able to fend for herself as well as she needed to.

"Arielle." Vlad stated seeing Arielle's coat tails start to char. "It's getting too much!"

"I can handle it!" Arielle snarled forcing more lightning down her arms, ignoring the tingling numbness that started to crawl from her fingers down into her hands and arms.

"Arielle cut off." Kai yelled. "He's going down!"

"He isn't dead yet." Arielle hissed, ignoring the pain creeping down to her heart.

"Ari!" Orion yelled and grabbed Arielle by the back of the coat and pulled her out of the way of an orb Golgoroth had released, the Ogre roaring in agony as it staggered and at last fell to the ground, bleeding and charred badly as Kai and Vlad emptied their weapons into it and the Wizard for good measure.

"Orion?" Arielle gasped seeing the armour that had been on his arm badly charred and cracked from the amount of arc energy he'd suffered grabbing her. "Idiot!"

"You'd have died if I hadn't pulled you back." Orion stated as he nodded to the blast impact on the floor where the orb had struck. "The Ogre is dead and the Wizard is about to follow, you did enough." He added looking at the gauntlets on Arielle's arms, blackened and charred from the sheer amount of Arc energy they had been channelling. "I know what too much Arc energy does to a Warlock who overcharges."

Arielle ducked her head, she'd lost her temper and he knew it, while it would mean she couldn't use the full extent of her storm for a while now, it did mean that they could advance at last. The Wizard gave an ear splitting hiss and scream of rage as Saix slammed his foot into its back and levelled a shot with its head at point blank range.

"Not so fast." Vlad warned, levelling the Thorn at the Taken Wizard. "She's mine."

"Fine by me." Saix assured lowering his gun but didn't let the Wizard up.

"Take Rose on ahead," Vlad said as Arielle and Orion helped Rose stand between them, walking her through the room, away from what they knew was about to happen.

Slowly, the four of them made their way along a long seemingly endless tunnel, scrambling over the walls and slowly jumping their way across the bottomless drop beneath them.

"We're getting close to Oryx." Kai said as he led the way, making sure the path forwards was clear.

"How do you figure that?" Orion asked.

"Because Rose is getting worse." Kai said grimly, sending his Ghost back to try and help soothe the pain the hunter was in. "And trouble." He huffed as they reached a large round room and the only way out was the climb.

"I can make it." Rose panted and slowly they began their climb, every move burned with agony, like a cold dagger was rapidly stabbing at every nerve end and muscle in her body as she fought to climb the pillar.

Vlad and Saix caught up with them, Vlad moving to help Rose as she paused to catch her breath while Saix reached the near top with Orion, Kai and Arielle.

"Come on Rose, we're almost there." Vlad said helping Rose climb onto a higher ledge, passing his weapons up to Orion so his hands were free to help Rose up, lifting her up as Arielle reached down and helped pull Rose up over the edge.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Vlad asked quietly as he stayed with Rose so she could catch her breath while the others went on ahead. "Fight Oryx knowing you'll disappear?" he added.

"I- I have to do this." Rose panted rubbing her chest as the pain got worse. "I could- couldn't save my world. B-b-but maybe I can save yours."

"At the cost of your own life?" Vlad asked putting a hand to her shoulder. "You have a whole lot of things to do and live for, do you truly want to cut that all short just to save us?"

"If it means you are safe from the same-ah! Same fate as my world, then doing this is, is worth it." She nodded leaning on him for support, "You've all done, so- so much for me, even though I'm not from here. I owe you this, even if I can't be here to share the benefits." She added as he held her, trying to chase away the pains from her body with an embrace, "Be-besides, if I do fade out of this, this time at the end of this. It just means, in my next life-ah! If we met again, you will owe me a bigger dinner."

Vlad smiled and nodded. "You won't fade out Rose." He said, "I promise." He added gently rubbing her back as he helped her stand again.

"Thank you." Rose smiled weakly.

"Oh fuck." Saix said.

"What is it?" Orion asked.

"Two Deathsingers on a podium each and one between them holding what I'm guessing is the shard from Rose's Traveler." Kai explained.

"There must be something we can do." Ikora pleaded, "You speak to the Traveler, you hear the words and you tell us what is said, why couldn't it work both ways?"

"I did not say it wouldn't, Ikora, but I have never tried to ask for something such as this, all I have ever asked is that the Guardians be given the guidance they need to keep the City and the Traveler save from the Darkness." The Speaker explained.

"We must try." Ikora stated. "Rose has done all she can to aid us, she is the last survivor of the world she came from," she added, "She just can't disappear. Not now, it would destroy Vlad and the others."

"I can only ask, Ikora." The Speaker said. "Beyond that, it is up to the Traveler." He added looking at the huge white sphere that protected them in silence.

The Deathsingers were not easily shot.

They were able to protect each other with large barriers, cutting any attempt to do harm off before it got close. The three taking it in turns to jab their claws into the Shard leaving Rose unable to fight as she sheltered and took shots sparingly as the pain became too much to focus through. The shard itself was brittle, held together by the Deathsingers spells, it would shatter otherwise.

"There has to be a way to stop this." Rose hissed watching her friends duck and dodge attacks that could kill them if they hit. "Think. Think. Think. How do we get out of this? How do we stop the pain?"

"The shard." Bing said, marking the shard on Rose's radar. "Get rid of the shard and they can't hurt us."

"Can't. You'll feel the shot. In the state we're in." Rose shook her head. "I can't. If I shoot the shard you could die. I can't lose you."

"It's that or we watch our friends die." Bing said. "I'll be ok. As long as I'm inside you armour I'm safe." He quoted. "Remember."

Rose gave a small nodded. "Ok." She said and then forced herself up and levelled Her Benevolence at the shard as it hung suspended high above them. "Forgive me."

"I already have." Bing assured quietly, bracing himself for the pain that was about to come.

 _*Bang*_

Ir Yût screamed in fury as the bullet cut through her and struck the shard hard, forcing their song to silence for just a moment and the shard burst into a blinding rush of light, burning the Deathsingers as they tried to flee the sudden brightness.

Rose dropped to her knees, the pain gone at last, but the sensation leaving her winded and tingling.

The Queen could feel the wall weakening around her, her witches were starting to feel the strain and she could feel a dull ache growing in her mind, but she ignored it, she had to keep the walls up.

She had to keep Oryx out of the minds of the Guardians.

Sadness and devastation suddenly swelled within the Hunter's mind, over and over repeating some kind of prayer, some pleading to the Traveler that something was just a bad dream, a horrible nightmare that would end.

Carefully, the Queen reached out and saw what had brought Rose such sadness, as she saw a second mind reach out from further away and surrounded the Hunter with a green taint.

"Are you alright?" Orion asked helping the Hunter back to her feet as Arielle and Vlad scanned around for any threat.

"We are." Rose nodded. "Right Bing?"

Bing said nothing.

"Bing?" Rose asked again and tried to summon her Ghost only to have him drop out of the air into her palm without a word or sound, his optic dull. "Bing?!"

"Shit!" Arielle yelled as Oryx's huge form hauled itself up from the shadows below and glared down at them. "Oryx is here!"

"Bing? Bing, talk to me!" Rose pleaded trying to get some kind of response from her Ghost as he remained still and silent in her hands. "Little Light!? Ghost?! Answer me! Please! Bing?!"

 _} Your Traveller's light cannot reach you here! Your pathetic shells cannot live without its Light. {_ The giant Hive King laughed. _} You took my son and for that, you and your Light will die. What Crota began, I shall finish. Vengeance shall be mine. {_

"Son of a bitch!" Vlad snarled and unloaded a whole clip of Thorn's ammo into the Hive King's face only for the huge King to catch the bullets in the palm of his hand without so much as a flinch.

 _} Come for me, warriors of Light. {_ Oryx challenged with a bellowing laugh, rising himself up further as his shadow fell over them. _} Your Lights die here! {_

"Bing…?" Rose pleaded again, clutching the shell of her Ghost close to her chest. "Please… Please talk to me. Tell me you're ok. Please!" The Ghost said nothing, silent and still in her palms as tears ran down her face. "Bing!"

 _}"You must fight."{_ A familiar voice told her as a soft green tint formed around her Ghost. _}"Use your grief and fight, fight for him as you fought to for the Queen and all your friends since you came to us. Fight now, Rose and show this Beast to his end."{_

"Come on Rose!" Arielle yelled back, unloading her shots into the huge King's face, searching for a weak spot. "We have to fight!"

"He's moving too fast!" Kai yelled jumping aside to avoid being crushed under Oryx's fists.

 _}"Fight!"{_

Rose placed Bing back into her armour and turned, drawing back her bow and releasing an arrow into Oryx's arm, chest and neck, tossing her smoke grenade into his face before she began to unload the last of her sniper ammo into the King.

"What the hell?" Kai asked.

"Plan B!" Rose snarled.

"Got it!" Vlad and Saix yelled throwing all caution to the wind and began to bombard Oryx with their weapons fire.

"Plan B?" Arielle asked.

"Bombardment and Butchery!" Vlad yelled over the gunshots.

"Hit his chest! Right over where the heart should be!" Saix suddenly yelled hitting his chest area with such force that Oryx seemed to struggle to catch his breath suddenly.

"You heard the man!" Orion yelled aiming and firing his rocket launcher while waiting for his super to finish building up. Arielle smiled and focused her shots in rapid clusters at the King's chest.

Oryx snarled and fell from their sight for a moment and the group searched the room for any sign of him.

"Where is he?" Vlad hissed.

"Move!" Saix yelled as the Hive King's clawed hand came smashing down on them from above.

Rose rolled and turned, aiming the Hawkmoon at Oryx's chest again, only for the bullet to bounce off. "Shit!"

"Fuck, we're surrounded!" Said yelled unloading his hard light into the Taken that had appeared.

"This isn't good!" Vlad snarled as they took cover from Oryx's suddenly onslaught of blasts and Taken.

"Never is!" Orion yelled as he and Kai reached for their hammers, turning the floor around them into a burning mess while Arielle pulled Rose into cover.

"Is he-?" The warlock asked and Rose shook her head putting a hand to her chest where Bing's shell was housed.

"He's not responding." Rose said grimly and Arielle was sure she heard a tremble in her voice.

"It could be temporary." The Warlock said trying to give the Hunter some hope to cling too while they fought but when no answer came she realized her attempt had failed.

 _} Fools! You cannot defeat me! {_ Oryx laughed. _} I will feats on your light! {_

"The hell you will," Saix said and dropped to one knee, levelling the Black Spindle at the Hive King's heart and fire, at eth same time Vlad released his arrows, "Suck on that ya' Fucker!"

"Hit him with everything!" Orion yelled, tossing the last of his hammers at Oryx's chest before unlading the last of his rockets into the Hive King as Vlad and Saix unloaded Thorn and Hard Light into the Hive God's chest as Arielle and Rose shot in close short clusters making sure they were hitting the same area as Oryx snarled and tried to grab them in his claws.

Rose pulled her back her bow string and release her arrows into the Hive King's chest, two direct hits that seemed to burn the King's chest away with each strike as Arielle and Orion tossed their grenades up at the Hive King, Thorn and Saix unloaded the last of their ammo into him.

 _} This cannot be! {_ Oryx bellowed in anger as he tried to keep himself from falling away from his ship. _} I will not be defeated! {_

"Wanna bet?" Rose asked and released the last arrow, feeling the world slow down around her as it cut through the air, spinning through the Hive King's claws as he tried to stop the arrows flight only to be knocked backwards from the force of the impact and flung from his ship.

 _} NO! {_

Rose felt the world pause for a moment, everything stood still as something warm and gentle reached from the darkness and wrapped around her like a warm blanket, flooding her with calmness and ease.

 _"Thank you."_

The room flooded with bright light, forcing everyone to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded as Oryx was sent flailing and cartwheeling through space towards Saturn.

Arielle recovered first, watching the black form that had been Oryx slowly start to fade away into Saturn's surface, their comms erupting with joyful cheers and victory calls as Taken apparently 'disappeared' from the fight, leaving only the hollow Shell of the Dreadnaught behind.

Saix and Kai quietly stepped away from Vlad, Arielle and Orion as the three stood looking at the fallen weapons laid where their friend had once stood, out of respect the two did not join the cheering around them, and instead sent a silent report back to the Tower.

A victory had been won, but at a price no one had wanted to pay.

"A good victory." Illyn stated from behind her Queen, but her voice was just that slightest bit shaken.

"At much too high a cost." The Queen of the Reef stated. "Search for any trace of her mentally. From here and beyond the Reef." She ordered standing from her place and leaving the chamber to her privet room, shoving the doors closed and locking them before the rest of the Reef could see the anger on her face.

It was unfair. She was forbidden from saying such things aloud about the fate of Guardians not sworn to her like Arielle, they were not her concern, but such a loss was unfair, it was unnecessary and unforgivable. The Hunter had given everything and even at the very end, her final thoughts had not been for herself, but for those around her.

Could the Traveler be so cruel as to allow such a bright and endearing spark of light to fade away into the darkness?

Ikora paced back and forth outside the room the Speaker was working within, wringing her hands and trying to keep her mind from going into dark places as she waited.

Slowly the doors opened and Ikora held her breath as the Speaker quietly exited the room and closed the doors behind him. "It is up to the Traveler now." He said.

 _~ "Rose?" ~_ Cayde-6 asked over the comms as their ships left the Dreadnaught in silence.

No one answered.

 _~ "I'm sorry Arielle." ~_ Lindor stated. _~ "We tried to find something, but nothing panned out." ~_

"Not your fault, Lindor." Arielle said though she sounded weary and tired, nothing like a Warlock who had just slain and Hive King.

 _~ "Do you think," ~_ Wrex began to ask. _~ "That we will see her again?" ~_

"No idea." Orion said, his voice heavy and grim like Arielle's. "We don't know if she's lost in time or if she just got thrown back to her own place in the universe."

 _~ "So maybe she'll come back." ~_ Sovereign stated, though Vlad remained silent. He was silent the entire flight back to the Tower, silent through the debriefing and silent the whole walk back to their room.

Arielle and Orion didn't ask questions, they didn't need to know why he was quiet and so instead they let him go into his room and seal the door while they set about cleaning themselves and their armour and weapons up now the mission was over, politely ignoring the metallic sounds beyond the door that they knew was an Exo sobbing.

Arielle swiped a hand across her check to catch the tears that had started to fall as she continued to clean her armour, even as Orion gently pulled her into a hug. "It's not fair."

"Life is never fair." Orion reminded, "She lost everything that meant something to her and had to watch it happen while she was safe here with us. Then she lost her Ghost and now," he sighed and shook his head, "Now we've lost her."

Arielle's shoulders trembled as she tried to hold back, "It shouldn't have happened. She's been here so long, used the light of our Traveler, gotten stronger, why did she have to disappear?" she asked as sparks began to creep between her gantlets.

"If I knew the answer, I'd find a way to bring her back." Orion said, "Heck I'd give up my Hammers Light I have to bring her back if I could." He added feeling the tears fall on to his shoulder.

"It's not fair." Arielle repeated and Orion held her, he couldn't think of anything he could say that would make this better, he couldn't just go to the Vanguard and demand they fix this, he knew the Queen had some power over Awoken, but he doubted she had the ability to reach through time and space and just pluck someone from point A and drop them in Point B.

So he sat with Arielle, letting her cry while he waited for some kind of miracle or sign that Rose would just reappear in the room, smiling and happy like she was before, with Bing sat on her head, trying to balance and buzzing in frustration at being called cute.


End file.
